Corporal Leo Perlmutter

             Fifty-eight years ago, U.S. Marine Corporal Leo Perlmutter did not know what hit him. He was in one of the battles in the Tet Offensive, launched by North Vietnam and the Viet Cong against the U.S. and Vietnamese forces in January of 1968. Enemy mortar rounds were coming in all around, and one struck close to his position.

             “I didn’t even know I was hit,” Perlmutter said. “A medic came to treat me. I was bleeding from the head from shrapnel.”

             He qualified for the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, and other medals, but the Purple Heart never arrived.

             Yesterday, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), former Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, presented Perlmutter with the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star at his Constituent Service Center in Toms River, New Jersey.

             “You took shrapnel, but thank God, you got through it. You survived,” Smith told Perlmutter, who was accompanied by his girlfriend, Kathy Hoernlein; family friend, Peter Schneider; and several neighbors. Representative Marines from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst’s Marine Air Group 49 (MAG-49), a helicopter unit, also participated in the ceremony.

             Smith expressed regret that it took so many years for the Marine to finally obtain his Purple Heart, but underscored that the nation’s gratitude for his bravery and service has never diminished.

             Perlmutter accepted the Purple Heart and other medals to a warm round of applause, after which he shared harrowing details of his military service, as well as the respect he holds for those who served with him.

             Born in Hamburg, Germany, his parents, Martin and Mary Perlmutter, survived concentration camps and came to America to start a new life. When the Vietnam War escalated, Leo had volunteered to become a U.S. Marine. 

             When Perlmutter returned to the States after the war, he eventually settled in New York City. Following a career as a lifeguard swimming instructor, he has resided in Lakewood for five years.

PHOTO: Cpl. Leo Perlmutter is presented with his Purple Heart medal during a ceremony at Rep. Smith’s Constituent Service Center. From left to right: Rep. Smith, SSGT Anthony Francisco, Cpl. Leo Perlmutter, Kathy Hoernlein, Peter Schneider, and Maj. Daniel Dennen.

             In March of 2024, Smith asked the director of the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) to investigate—and, if warranted—approve the hallowed medal, reserved only for those injured in combat. He sent the NPRC a copy of Perlmutter’s DD-214 separation paper. In an unfortunate twist of fate, while the medals shipped, they never arrived, prompting Smith to submit additional inquiries to the NPRC.

             “We are so very grateful for what you did,” Smith said to Perlmutter during the ceremony. “The fact that you have received these medals is just further recognition of how much respect and honor we need to afford you for that sacrifice. Thank you so much.”

###