The war is long over. His leg has healed. But a former Marine received a long overdue honor Thursday.

Richard Beard, who fought in the Vietnam War in 1965-66, received a Purple Heart for shrapnel injuries he received almost 45 years ago during an emotional ceremony at the Marine Home Site Training Center at Fort Lewis.

His wife, Rozellen, and several members of Beard’s platoon were in attendance, including Gary Shreve, the corpsman who treated him on a hillside just south of Danang.

“I can’t explain what this means,” said Beard, a 62-year-old Bellevue resident. “It’s been so long, but it’s such a huge part of my life that will never go away.”

Beard received his injuries on Sept. 11, 1965, when he was a private first class tasked with operating mortar cannons. He and other members of 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment were tasked with setting a command center on a hillside. The helicopters unloaded them in the wrong area – in the middle of a minefield.

The battalion commander and a nearby radioman stepped on a mine and died just minutes after they landed.

“It was the most difficult night of my life,” Shreve said. “It was just a horrendous day.”

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Coast Guard helicopters and rescue crews are buzzing across the Northwest, looking for stranded flood victims and surveying damage.

Here's their press release:

ASTORIA, Ore. -- The United States Coast Guard, in conjunction with other federal, state, and local agencies, is continuing its response efforts to the flooding in the Pacific Northwest.

Coast Guard helicopter rescue crews are currently conducting overflights of flood effected areas to assess damage and look for stranded citizens. In addition, Air Station Astoria is currently performing a patient transport from South Bend, Ore. to Portland. After the patient transfer, the helicopter rescue crew will transport blood from Legacy Hospital in Portland to Gray's Harbor Community Hospital in Aberdeen, Wash. Coast Guard helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, Wash., and Astoria are also attempting to airlift approximately 20 people stranded due to landslides near Morton, Wash.

Emergency Operation Centers throughout Washington remain open in response to flooding, snow recovery, road closures and other storm-related events.

Many rivers across the state have crested but flooded roads and standing water remains a hazard. Do not drive through standing water or flooded areas as the underlying road may be eroded or the water may be deeper than it appears. Many flood-related deaths and injuries are caused by motorists attempting to cross through flood waters.

Camille Even wrapped her left arm around Falcon and rubbed his head with her right hand. The golden retriever closed his eyes and wagged his tail. The dozen or so people watching smiled. A few snapped shots with their cameras.

“She’s ecstatic about this,” said Camille’s father, Sgt. Daniel Even. “It’s something we’ve been wanting for a while.”

More than a year and a half after her mother applied, 14-year-old Camille was promised a service dog Thursday during a short ceremony at the Fort Lewis commissary. It’ll still be about six months until Camille receives a dog from Canine Assistants through Milk-Bone’s Canine Heroes Program, but she clearly relished playing with Falcon, the service dog of a Navy family in attendance.

The Evens will travel to Alpharetta, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, in July to meet and train with the service dog. Camille, an eighth grader who was diagnosed with diabetes at 2 and also has other progressive developmental disabilities, likely will receive a golden retriever or a goldendoodle, a poodle-golden retriever mix.

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Skip Irving of Bonney Lake served in the Army from 1969 to 1972 and said his time was much easier than others: He worked with electronics in Europe and North Africa while others went off to fight in Vietnam.

One of Irving’s friends didn’t have it as easy. The two shared a house in the mid-70s, after each was out of the service. Irving learned to be careful when waking his friend, who slept with a knife under his pillow.

“It took him so long to get better,” said Irving, now 61.“It was tough for people to know what he was going through.”

He hopes a new mentorship program, called VetsMeetVets, will provide stability for today’s veterans struggling to return to civilian life from places such as Iraq and Afghanistan. And he feels a duty to help the country’s service members.

“It’s payback, quite simply,” said Irving, a manager at Schucks Auto Parts in Enumclaw. “I have a good life, have been reasonably successful. My kids have grown up and are successful. It’s time to pay back.”

The program is the brainchild of Rod Wittmier, who has launched an ambitious plan based on a simple idea: A challenge can be made easier when someone who has already gone through it gives advice.

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