Stolen medals replaced for kin of Brooklyn World War II hero

Four years ago, burglars stole a pair of Purple Hearts and other medals earned by a U.S. Army Air Forces lieutenant killed during World War II. The symbols of honor were replaced and delivered to his family Sunday in an emotional ceremony at a Brooklyn Army post.

"When we think of the Greatest Generation, we think of people like Lt. Andrew Doyle," said Rep. Daniel Donovan, whose congressional office facilitated the replacement and engraving. The medals and badges are a "symbol of his heroism and sacrifice," said Donovan (R-Staten Island).

Doyle, a Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, native who flew as a bombardier, was commissioned in January 1943. He was first seriously wounded when his plane was struck over the Pacific.

He became the first airman to receive a midflight blood transfusion. Doyle recuperated in a Hawaii hospital and chose to return to active duty two months later in hopes of finding lost colleagues.

Then in April 1944, another plane carrying Doyle and his crew went missing over the Pacific and was never found.

Doyle was 23. He was declared dead in 1946. Early in 1945, his brother Hugh was killed in action in Germany at age 21.

Hugh Doyle is buried at the Long Island National Cemetery in Pinelawn. Andrew Doyle has a tombstone there also, bearing the letters "MIA."

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Both brothers were honored for their military service -- but also remembered for their dedication to family and for musical talents -- during a ceremony at Fort Hamilton. The ceremony featured a presentation of colors, bagpipe music and relatives spanning several generations.

Their sister, Ann Byrne, 93, of Great Kills, Staten Island, had held on to Andrew Doyle's medals for more than six decades, but lost them -- along with much of her jewelry -- when her home was burglarized.

Through tears Sunday, Byrne said she cherished the "happy times" she shared with her brothers as children.

Byrne's daughter and Doyle's niece, Maureen O'Neill, 62, of Windsor Terrace, said her family holds Veterans Day sacred because they have loved ones who have served in conflicts from World War I to Afghanistan.

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Her uncles "went to war and didn't return, but we grew up in a home where their names were spoken with immeasurable love and immeasurable pride," she told reporters.