VOORHEESVILLE — June 11 was a day to remember for Betty Filkins.

In the afternoon, FedEx delivered a package to her Westerlo home containing a Gold Medal to honor her late father, Charles H. “Sonny” Peck Jr., a World War II veteran.

Filkins has long said her father was her hero and her mother called her “Charlie’s boy Betty.”

That evening, in a long-anticipated ceremony, Filkins accepted her father’s high school diploma at an awards ceremony in Voorheesville.

“It was a first-class ceremony,” said Thomas Mullins, who had worked, as a volunteer, to secure both the medal and the diploma.

Peck, a Westerlo farmer, had always regretted not getting his diploma, said Filkins, “and instilled to his children how important it was to stay in school.”

The State Education Department has a program called Operation Recognition that awards diplomas to veterans who left high school without graduating, which many districts are unaware of, said Mullins.

“Tom Mullins was the person that came into my life a few months ago and had the know-how on being able to get all the awards my dad deserved for his service in World War II to his country whom I will be always thankful to,” said Filkins. 

In addition to helping veterans get diplomas, Mullins also helps them get federal and state medals. “What a lot of people don’t know is, unless they apply for them, they don’t get them,” said Mullins of medals veterans have earned.

Mullins told The Enterprise this week that applying for the Gold Medal for Peck was like finding “a needle in a haystack.”

“It’s a historical first in the Hilltowns,” Mullins said of the medal being awarded.

Congressional Gold Medal

Since the American Revolution, according to the House of Representatives website, Congress has commissioned Gold Medals as its highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions. Each medal honors a particular individual, institution, or event.

The first recipient was George Washington. The medals that followed went to citizens who fought in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War.

Congress then broadened the scope of the medal to include actors, artists, authors, entertainers, musicians, pioneers in aeronautics and space, explorers, lifesavers, notables in science and medicine, athletes, humanitarians, public servants, and foreign recipients.

Congress has also authorized groups of people who, like Peck, can receive replicas of the Gold Medal as individuals who were part of that group.

Peck’s medal was awarded because he served on Merchant Marine ships during World War II.

On March 13, 2024, Congress approved that group, which included naval officers and crew. Mullins said he had been worried Peck might not qualify because he had been enlisted in the Navy not in the  Merchant Marine.

“He was a Navy guy assigned to a Merchant Marine ship to protect them,” said Mullins. “They had only two guns on each ship.”

Congress recognized the Merchant Mariners for “providing the link between domestic production and the fighting forces overseas,” during World War II, “providing combat equipment, fuel, food, commodities, and raw materials to troops stationed abroad.”

Peck was on ships, Mullins said, that made difficult runs getting weapons to Russia through a port on the Arctic Ocean that was open only three months each year.

“It’s the only route you could go. We lost a lot of ships,” said Mullins, adding that the Merchant Marine lost a greater percentage of sailors than the Navy, or than the Army did soldiers..

“On the way back to England,” Mullins said of Peck’s journey with a Merchant Marine ship, “His ship was sunk by a sub. He was one of 22 survivors. Then he went to the Pacific Theater.”

Other groups Congress has recognized with a Gold Medal in recent years include:

— Merrill’s Marauders to recognize “their bravery and outstanding service in the jungles of Burma during World War II";

— Rosie the Riveter to collectively recognize “the women in the United States who joined the workforce during World War II, providing the aircraft, vehicles, weaponry, ammunition and other material to win the war”;

— The Harlem Hellfighters to recognize the first regiment of African-Americans deployed overseas during World War I for “their bravery and outstanding service, never losing a foot of ground, despite the segregation of the Armed Forces”;

— The “United States Capitol Police and those who protected the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 against a mob of insurrectionists”:

— The Six Triple Eight To honor the African-American women who served in the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion for the “pioneering military service ... the devotion to duty ... [and] the contributions made by those women to increase the morale of all United States personnel stationed in the European Theater of Operations during World War II”; and

— The Army Rangers veterans of World War II, “whose bravery and sacrifice in combat contributed greatly to the military success of the United States and the allies of the United States.”

Using the Army Rangers as an example, Mullins said that the actual Gold Medal for the Rangers resides in an Army museum but veteran Rangers or their families can apply for replicas.

He found out about the program and the application process from Congressman Paul Tonko’s office, Mullins said, adding he’d like to raise awareness about the program.

“Unfortunately, many of these veterans are deceased and their relatives don’t even know about it,” said Mullins.

Peck’s medal depicts mariners on one side and transport ships on the other with this inscription: “Full Ahead to Victory.”

The announcement that came with the medal states, “The Congressional Gold Medal, which is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Congress, honors those whose dedication, heroism, and public service have created a lasting impact on American history.”

Betty Filkins concluded of her father, “I wished he was here to see it but he was a quiet, very proud man and he would not want this hoopla that I feel he deserves.”