A Vietnam War veteran from Suffolk County has received a long overdue honor, more than half a century after he earned it. Daniel Knote, a 79-year-old U.S. Army veteran who served six years, was finally awarded a Purple Heart, a recognition that, because of a clerical error, had never officially reached him. He was supposed to receive the award more than 50 years ago, but it did not happen until now.
The medal traces back to a single life-changing moment in South Vietnam. Under fire, Army Specialist Knote, then only 21 years old, took a bullet to his leg. Even as he was wounded, he managed to help save his friend, fellow soldier Mike Beck, in an act that would come to define his service even as it went formally unrecognized for decades.
Knote has been reluctant to cast himself as anything special. "Who's the real hero? I don't consider myself the hero. I did my job," he said. By his account, he and Beck had gone out together after their squad leader could not, because the squad leader was heading home the next day. "Mike said we'd do it together. We both made it back. We both got wounded," Knote recalled of that day.
For his service, Knote had earned both a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. But the Purple Heart was never properly recorded in his service record, an omission that quietly followed him for the rest of his life. He asked for no recognition, instead coming home from the war, going to work, and raising a family without the medal ever catching up to him.
It was only later, as the leg injury and other medical issues began catching up with him, that Knote reached out for help. He contacted Congressman Nick LaLota, whose office represents Suffolk County and Long Island, and whose staff worked to rectify the situation and finally set the record straight after all the intervening years.
The correction came on Purple Heart Day, closing a gap that had lasted 58 years. For his wife, the moment carried a meaning her husband would never put into words himself. "The last thing I'm proud of is that he went for a purpose," she said, speaking to the sense of duty that had sent him into danger in the first place.
After the war, Knote went on to work for the Long Island Rail Road for 31 years and later the U.S. Department of Transportation, described as always bringing honor to his jobs. At the ceremony, the length of the wait was not lost on him. "Good to be here. So sorry it took so long," he said, finally getting the credit he had long been owed.