WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (WGHP) — After 70 years, 89-year-old James Brown finally got the recognition he deserves after fighting in the Korean War.
On Friday, the Veterans Legal Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law announced that veteran James Brown was going to be respectfully honored with the Purple Heart medal.
In 1950, Brown enlisted in the army and was part of a racially integrated unit in the Korean War.
Brown said he was wounded and felt the situations he faced were dangerous, which led him to try and report it to his superiors, but he got in trouble for it and was dishonorably discharged in 1956.
“He walked 15 yards in the direction of his company’s leadership and was immediately put in pretrial confinement, arrested and court-martialed,” said Eleanor Morales, assistant clinical professor at Wake Forest Law School, director of Veterans Legal Clinic.
Brown said he tried to fight the case to get his military record cleared, but it never worked in his favor. He couldn’t prove it was racial bias because his personal files were destroyed in a fire.
Seven decades later, he reached out to the Veterans Legal Clinic at Wake Forest University School of Law for help. After a year of searching for files and going over his case, Brown’s dishonorable discharge was overturned.
Eighty-nine-year-old James Brown, wounded in battle while fighting behind enemy lines in the North Korean War, received his Purple Heart during the half time of the football tame at Truist Field on Saturday, November 12, 2022. The ceremony celebrated the setting aside of his dishonorable discharge and the restoration of the Purple Heart he earned for injuries sustained in the war. 
Eighty-nine-year-old James Brown, wounded in battle while fighting behind enemy lines in the North Korean War, received his Purple Heart during the half time of the football tame at Truist Field on Saturday, November 12, 2022. The ceremony celebrated the setting aside of his dishonorable discharge and the restoration of the Purple Heart he earned for injuries sustained in the war. 
Eighty-nine-year-old James Brown, wounded in battle while fighting behind enemy lines in the North Korean War, received his Purple Heart during the half time of the football tame at Truist Field on Saturday, November 12, 2022. The ceremony celebrated the setting aside of his dishonorable discharge and the restoration of the Purple Heart he earned for injuries sustained in the war. 
Eighty-nine-year-old James Brown, wounded in battle while fighting behind enemy lines in the North Korean War, received his Purple Heart during the half time of the football tame at Truist Field on Saturday, November 12, 2022. The ceremony celebrated the setting aside of his dishonorable discharge and the restoration of the Purple Heart he earned for injuries sustained in the war. 
Eighty-nine-year-old James Brown, wounded in battle while fighting behind enemy lines in the North Korean War, received his Purple Heart during the half time of the football tame at Truist Field on Saturday, November 12, 2022. The ceremony celebrated the setting aside of his dishonorable discharge and the restoration of the Purple Heart he earned for injuries sustained in the war.
“I have been exonerated from a burden that I carried for 70 years because of a misunderstanding,” Brown said.
Legal aid helps former service members correct injustices in their military records. They spent a year to help Brown get what he deserved: a Purple Heart for his sacrifices while serving in the war.
“There was never any animosity or anger in my heart against the country that I served,” Brown said.
On Saturday, Brown was honored with a pinning of the purple heart during the halftime game between Wake Forest University and UNC.
