'More than worthy': Family receives Purple Heart their father earned as POW


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SALT LAKE CITY — Army Staff Sgt. Royce Fuhriman never asked for any recognition.

After quietly returning home from several traumatic years as a prisoner in World War II, Fuhriman wanted nothing more than to marry and raise a family, shielding his four children from the atrocities he experienced until his quiet passing in 2007 at age 86.

To know that he had finally been awarded a Purple Heart, presented posthumously to his children on Tuesday, would have been "a lot of fuss," his daughter Patricia Eckman said.

"But it's very important to his family," she explained, becoming emotional.

Having joined the Army as a clerk typist at 18, the Preston, Idaho, native survived months of Japanese bombing raids to his base on the Philippine island of Luzon following the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Once the base was forced to surrender in early 1942, Fuhriman was among the American and Filipino troops forced to make the infamous Bataan Death March, a grueling 65-mile trek to prison camps where many who survived the march ultimately lost their lives to extreme deprivation, abuse and forced labor.

Fuhriman reported for duty weighing a healthy 150 pounds, his family said. By the time he came home, he was down to just 95 pounds.

Eckman and her husband had been petitioning the Army about the award for several years only to learn Fuhriman's records were likely among thousands of veterans' documents lost in a government building fire in St. Louis. More than a year ago they turned to Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and his staff, who took up the case on the family's behalf.

Hatch presented the medal to Fuhriman's family Tuesday, pinning the commendation on Eckman in her father's stead and calling the staff sergeant "more than worthy of this high honor."

"Both as a soldier and as a civilian, Royce led an honorable life marked by courage, character and an unwavering commitment to God and country," Hatch said. "He leaves behind a legacy of love and sacrifice that will surely inspire future generations."

Fuhriman never carried any bitterness, his daughter explained, he was simply quiet about the experiences that took so many lives but spared his. What she and her siblings now know of their father's experiences has come mostly from books, she explained as she accepted the award Tuesday.

A photo of Staff Sgt. Royce Fuhriman displayed in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, as Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, posthumously presented Fuhriman's family with his Purple Heart. Fuhriman was taken prisoner in World War II and survived the Bataan Death March. He died in 2007 at age 86. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
A photo of Staff Sgt. Royce Fuhriman displayed in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, as Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, posthumously presented Fuhriman's family with his Purple Heart. Fuhriman was taken prisoner in World War II and survived the Bataan Death March. He died in 2007 at age 86. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

"I remember one time in high school reading a book and saying, 'Gosh Dad, look how bad these guys had it.' And he said, 'Yes honey, I was there,'" Eckman said.

The family learned more of their father's military service later in his life when he granted a few interviews about his experience, including for the book "Courage in a Season of War," which details the experiences of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and an article by the Herald Journal in Logan, Eckman said.

Eckman and her sisters, Sally Keller and Diane Fuhriman, displayed a number of their father's mementos for Hatch and the nearly 20 family members in attendance at the private ceremony, proud to give the recognition their father never asked for but that they have always believed he deserved.

"Dad's probably rolling his eyes thinking this is too much, but to us it's not," Diane Fuhriman said, becoming emotional. "We've been proud of him for so many years. He never talked about the war, but as I grew up learning about the war and realizing what he went through, he's been my hero all my life."

Trish Eckman, daughter of Staff Sgt. Royce Fuhriman, wears her father's Purple Heart in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. The medal was awarded posthumously by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Fuhriman was taken prisoner in World War II and survived the Bataan Death March. He died in 2007 at age 86. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
Trish Eckman, daughter of Staff Sgt. Royce Fuhriman, wears her father's Purple Heart in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017. The medal was awarded posthumously by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Fuhriman was taken prisoner in World War II and survived the Bataan Death March. He died in 2007 at age 86. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

Following the presentation, Hatch joined the family in perusing photos of a young Fuhriman in uniform, his dog tags, books of poems and sketches later published by some of his fellow prisoners, and the letter sent to his parents announcing their son was missing in action.

Eckman's contribution to the display was a small tin box her father had preserved, containing small keepsakes like patches from his uniform, a stamp pad he used to write letters home before his capture, a Red Cross sewing kit and a single fork.

"I'm surprised that was important enough to put in the box and bring home," Eckman said with a smile. "Apparently those were treasured enough to bring home, they were probably all he had."

Despite his reticence to share his own experiences, Fuhriman and his wife, Ilene, always instilled a sense of deep patriotism in their family, Keller said, wiping tears from her eyes. Her mother, she said, was "Rosie the Riveter" working at Hill Field through the war, meeting Fuhriman after he returned home.

The couple settled in Idaho where they raised their family. The three daughters moved to Utah as adults.

Now, Keller said, the family will continue to share their father's story with their own children and grandchildren, many of whom have written school reports about their grandfather. Now they will be able to share Fuhriman's Purple Heart with his descendents for years to come, she said.

"This is just like the icing on the cake, to know he is finally being recognized for those things that he suffered, that all of my kids and my grandkids already know about because we've shared that with them," Keller said. "I just wish that he were still here to have received it himself."

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