Purple Heart given to family of World War I soldier from Torrington

GUILFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — This Memorial Day weekend, we honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our country. On Friday, a Purple Heart medal was presented to the family of a Connecticut soldier.

“He entered, enlisted because he wanted to serve his country,” said Rick Maynard, grandnephew of Sgt. Paul Maynard.

Paul Maynard from Torrington served in World War I and survived some of the most brutal fighting American forces endured.

“It’s just hard, almost impossible, to imagine how brutal the battlefields were in the day,” Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs Ronald Welch said.

He did so until his death on Nov. 11, 1918 — the final day of the war.

“That war took him,” Maynard said. “It was really the last hour and a half of war.”

His service and sacrifice were honored and recognized on Guilford’s Town Green. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) presented his grandnephew, Rick Maynard, with a Purple Heart medal.

“He was doing his job and defending our democracy,” Blumenthal said. “It was not a senseless death; it was a patriotic and heroic death.”

Maynard has worked hard to preserve his great-uncle’s memory by sharing his story, and what he’s learned through dozens of wartime letters Maynard penned to family.

“It’s amazing to see all the work my dad has put into researching Paul and finding out all this stuff,” Tyler Maynard, Rick Maynard’s son, said. “And to have it finally come to this where Paul finally got the medal he deserves, 106 years later.”

For those in attendance, they told News 8 it was an honor to witness and take part in this special ceremony.

“A lot of people don’t realize that the Purple Heart represents that you spilled blood for the United States, and you were willing to give your life for it,” said John Alberghini, a veteran and Purple Heart recipient.

Blumenthal also acknowledged the veterans in attendance, thanking them for their service.

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