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thedrifter
09-03-07, 07:09 AM
Marine honored for service during WWII

written by: Heidi McGuire , Backpack Journalist
posted by: Colleen Locke , Producer created: 9/1/2007 4:50:00 PM
Last updated: 9/2/2007 6:34:28 PM


ARVADA - You know the saying, "Better late than never." Imagine waiting 60 years for something.

Colorado native Joseph Espinosa did not give it much thought until he got a knock at his door a few weeks ago.

"I told him, 'Someone is here to talk to you. Come here and have a seat,'" said Espinosa's son Mark.

It was a Tuesday afternoon and there they were - two Marines standing at Espinosa's front door. Espinosa and his wife Barbara were clueless. They thought, 'What on earth could they want?'

"I knew they were Marines when I saw them at the door in their uniforms and I was like, 'OK,'" said Barbara of the awkward moment.

Espinosa, who is now 87, thought it was a couple of buddies stopping by to visit, but after a closer look he knew the two Marines where way too young.

It did not take long for Espinosa to learn the men stopped by to drop something off, something the World War II veteran had been missing since he was 28 years old.

"I just completely forgot about it," said Espinosa.

Fortunately, his son Mark had not.

During his four years of service, Joseph Espinosa earned the nickname "Hand Grenade Joe" after he saved his platoon when they ran out of ammunition. Before his tour was over, the young Marine also managed to survive an attack that killed one of his friends.

"He was only five feet away from me," he recalled.

Espinosa was injured and still managed to return to service, but the Marine was never honored for his bravery, until now.

"I was speechless, I didn't know what to say," said Espinosa.

The Marines who showed up at his door came to deliver medals Espinosa earned during World War II. One of them was the Purple Heart.

"It's just as good as getting them the same day," he said.

It was Mark, who is also a retired Marine, who tracked down his dad's medals with the help of a friend at the Pentagon.

Espinosa still doesn't know how they found him. When asked, he says they responded, "We're Marines, we have ways."

What matters now is not how they found him, but that they did. Even after 60 years, Espinosa says it is still better late than never.

"It's just like somebody was saving them for me," he said.

Ellie