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harm for their care," Stevens said, adding that the NPS does not have any legal authority.
• Still, a site can lose its designation if it does not retain its physical integrity, he said. One example is Soldier Field in Chicago, which lost the designation when it was remodeled a decade ago because it changed its physical character.
• As for the Wounded Knee site, Stevens said any development could potentially affect the Historic Landmark designation.
• "Certainly you would hear a hue and cry about that type of thing," he said. "And certainly if we saw something going up, we'd express our concern, even if we don't have a legal jurisdiction to intercede, we'd express our concern."
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88-year-old WWII veteran receives Purple Heart
DIRK LAMMERS,Associated Press
• SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- As Army soldier Charles Bledsoe was being loaded onto a Jeep with a gunshot wound to the abdomen nearly 70 years ago, he heard someone say, "Give him his last rites."
• "I looked around to see who that was getting the last rites," Bledsoe recalled. "I went, 'The hell.' It was me."
• Bledsoe recovered, but the April 19, 1945, wound was never recorded on his discharge papers so he hadn't received a Purple Heart. The oversight was corrected Wednesday, as U.S. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., presented the 88-year-old World War II veteran with a Purple Heart and Bronze Star during a ceremony at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Sioux Falls.
• "Thank you, senator, for getting it right," said Bledsoe, who moved to Sioux Falls after the war. "It's the first time it's ever been right."
• Bledsoe, an Indiana native, hadn't really pushed for the medal until about a year ago when he tried to become a member of the Sioux Falls chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. He was told he couldn't join the organization because he didn't have a Purple Heart, awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces wounded in battle.
• "He heard about our chapter and he wanted to join, but (the battle wound) wasn't on his discharge papers," said Mark Williamson, commander of the group's Sioux Falls chapter.
• So Williamson began researching records and working with Sen. Johnson's office to get Bledsoe his honors.
• "Most of us have only read about or seen movies depicting the D-Day invasion, (Continued on page 24)
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