Almost 80 years later, the daughter of a man from Aurora killed in World War II receives his medals

The last time 83-year-old Anna Green Showerman of Batavia was with her father, he held the then three-year-old girl in his arms before she went to war and eventually died in World War II.

Nearly 80 years later, the daughter of Army Staff Sgt. John W. Green received long-overdue medals in honor of his sacrifice.

“It’s overwhelming,” she said. “Of course I don’t remember him. But I feel a little closer to him now. We have some closure.”

Green was killed on December 17, 1944, one day after his 21st birthday, during the Battle of the Bulge. For unknown reasons, his decorations were never awarded to him.

After years of research and work by Showerman, her family and a number of government officials, the Army corrected that mistake on Tuesday with a ceremony honoring Green with the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and a half-dozen other medals and awards.

Colonel Daniel Mitchell, who presented the medals to Showerman, said it was an experience he had never had in his entire service.

“There were so many emotions,” he said. “It was very meaningful for me to be able to honor him and I had goosebumps being able to participate in this ceremony and show him the respect he deserves.”

Sandy Showerman-Gast spent years helping her mother gather the information that led to Tuesday’s medal ceremony, and she said it was a relief for her and her mother to see her grandfather receive the honors he deserved.

“He was important, and she never got the validation that he was important,” Showerman-Gast said, fighting back tears. “It’s important, and now she can have all these medals and know that his sacrifice made it possible for us to be here.”

Showerman-Gast, who lives in Woodstock, said she has been working on her family’s genealogy, but the part of her tree that represents her grandfather was pretty bare until her research.

“This little green branch that we didn’t know about is a part of me,” she said. “It makes me feel more complete.”

Although Showerman had been researching the missing medals since the mid-1990s, she cited a 2019 visit to the Kane County government building in Geneva, where she paid her taxes, as a turning point in her efforts.

She came across the office of Jake Zimmerman, head of the Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission, who has been guiding Showerman through the process for the past five years, including involving Senator Tammy Duckworth.

Zimmerman was there on Tuesday to witness the culmination of their efforts.

“It’s satisfying for me that they’re putting this to rest and getting the honor that they deserve,” he said. “I don’t know how many other countries in the world do this so long after the crime, but we don’t forget. We’re doing it right, even if it’s 80 years later.”