58 years after Riverhead man was shot helping a fallen comrade, Vietnam vet awarded Purple Heart

It had been 58 years since Daniel Knote was shot in the leg while running into the line of fire to help a wounded comrade in Vietnam. But Friday, tears came to the eyes of the Riverhead man as he looked out at the family, friends and fellow veterans gathered to honor his heroism that day.

Stopping several times to compose himself, Knote accepted a long-overdue Purple Heart at Rocky Point VFW Post 6249. And afterward he expressed astonishment at the crowd who had showed up. 

"To come here, I was amazed. I didn’t expect to see all of these people. ... It means a lot," Knote said. "It means the world."

Knote also earned a Bronze Star Medal for his service in Vietnam. But due to a paperwork mistake, the Purple Heart was not listed in any of Knote’s military files for 58 years.

Correcting his paperwork to include the prestigious award helped Knote get access to better medical care through the VA Northport Healthcare System, and he was able to undergo a procedure earlier this summer that helped him walk normally after years of back and leg pain.

"He’s like a different man today," his son, Daniel Knote Jr., said. "There’s no more back pain. There’s nothing. He’s Dad again. Dad is back."

Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville) presented the Purple Heart to Knote after his office helped the family correct the oversight.

"On Feb. 27, 1968, Daniel Knote moved toward enemy fire to help a wounded fellow soldier, and he was shot in the leg in doing so. He did his duty that day on behalf of our great country," LaLota said during the ceremony.

He added, "He asked for no recognition. He came home, went to work, raised a family and lived his life, and for 58 years the paperwork failed to catch up with that sacrifice. But today it finally does."

After returning from Vietnam, Knote worked for over two decades for the Long Island Rail Road, and about 20 of his friends from the LIRR attended the ceremony. Some are also veterans.

Badge of Military Merit awards were first established in the United States by President George Washington in 1782. The award was largely forgotten after the American Revolution and then was renewed as the modern Purple Heart in 1932, according to the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor.

National Purple Heart Day is celebrated on Aug. 7 each year in commemoration of the day in 1782 that Washington commissioned the first Badge of Military Merit.

During his acceptance speech, Knote repeatedly thanked his wife, brother and sister-in-law for their support of his children while he was deployed in Vietnam, saying the family members of veterans are "certainly heroes."

"The service extends beyond the physical veteran themselves," Knote said. "It’s the family of the veterans, the kids that don’t have parents, don’t have a mother or a father anymore. ... When you think about Veterans Day, you think about Purple Heart Day, think about that extended family."

Knote Jr., 57, the oldest of Knote's five sons and the father of some of Knote's 11 grandchildren, said his father taught him selflessness and dedication. 

"He was always there for the five of us and doing everything with us," Knote Jr. said. "He was my Boy Scout troop leader, he was my baseball coach, football coach, basketball coach. ... He always made sure we always had everything we wanted."

Knote said that while he did not expect the ceremony, he was honored to have his family watch him finally receive the award.

"Many of my grandchildren are here today. I think [about] them realizing and seeing what can be and is, and what the past life was," Knote said. "This will be passed down to some of them."