After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Chilton Raiford went to the Alexandria Post Office and signed up for the Navy.
But one of the few remaining survivors of a kamikaze attack is still fighting for the recognition he deserves. The Rappahannock County man just wants his Purple Heart.
On March 11, 1945, he could see the Japanese suicide bomber headed toward his aircraft carrier, the USS Randolph.
“So I began to run,” said Raiford, 94. “And I don't remember. I knew I was blown up in the air. And I was very disoriented.”
But he refused to stay down. He raced to rescue the injured.
“And the place was an inferno. And there was this young sailor crawling around," he said.
When the fire was out, he finally went to the sick bay.
“I told the doctor, I think I have a head injury. He said, ‘I catch you later? Can you make it?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’”
But he really couldn't. He spent six months in a shell shock ward. A doctor wanted to put a plate in his head.
And he still suffers. He still suffers nightmares. Sometimes he hears the phantom noise of a bomb going off, just like when the plane hit the carrier, killing more than 100 of his buddies.
He just wants the military to recognize his injury. To add a purple heart to his other medals.
“I earned it and I deserve it,” he said.
The Purple Heart goes back to the Revolutionary War and General George Washington. But in World War II, you could only earn it with bullets or blood. Not shell shock or battle fatigue, what we know now as traumatic brain injury and PTSD.
“Absolutely, he deserves his purple heart,” said retired Navy Chief Petty Officer David Sillaman, who is fighting to get Raiford recognized.
The war injury cost Raiford his college dreams and possibly a spot on the Olympic track team.
“He gave all of that up for his country, like a lot of vets,” said Sillaman.
One small honor before a hero passes dies.
“The war ended, but it never ended for me,” said Raiford.
Virginia Congressman Rob Wittman is fighting to get Raiford and other vets like him recognized. But it could be an even longer fight. And Raiford knows he doesn’t have much time left.
