Top Stories of 2012
No. 2 Top Story of 2012: Wiggins Place Man Gets His Purple Heart 67 Years Later
Donald Arnold received the prestigious award in July for his service in World War II.
Editor's Note: This story was originally published on July 6, 2012. “I wasn’t thinking,” said U.S. Army Pvt. Donald Arnold. “We started to get shot at very heavily, and I jumped on the hood of a Jeep and hollered for somebody to drive it to go to the wounded men.” He spoke slowly. “And I thought, well, with the red cross on my helmet, they wouldn’t shoot at me. But it wasn’t true.” He took a long pause, staring straight ahead, then went on. “So we drove through town, picking up what we could of wounded men to get them out of harm’s way.” Arnold, a Cleveland Heights native who lived for several years in Shaker Heights and Beachwood, was serving in Schildgen, Germany on April 14, 1945. He was 22. “The human mind is funny,” said Donald …
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