At the beginning of August, I posted this.

My conversation with a neighbor who is a Medal of Honor recipient

Way down the thread, someone pointed out that there were no listed MOH winners in my state. Further checking on my part, plus some references provided by others, verified that. I also looked into Bronze and Silver Star recipients, could find no reference to my neighbor, but neither did I find any definitive, complete list of all recipients. If anyone knows of such a listing somewhere, I'd be interested in having a link to it.

At the end of the thread, I mentioned that I would, as the opportunity presented itself, look into what the facts were with respect to my neighbor. I am now able to report a bit more, although nothing definitive.

This past weekend I again had occasion to speak with my neighbor, much in the same way as my originally cited conversation. After the usual small talk, I pointed to his Marine Corps flag and asked him why he flew it. He said that he had, in fact, been involved in the battle at Chosin Reservoir, and is/was(?) a member of the 'Chosin Few'. Seeing that was all he was going to say about it, I remarked that I knew it was an awful thing and that a lot of guys had been decorated as a result of their actions there. His only remark was "Yes. A lot of us were."

I was clear from his tone and his body language that he didn't want to talk a whole lot more about it. I turned the conversation elsewhere, mostly to more small talk. I understand and respect such reticence, having seen it in others, mainly of my father's (WWII) generation. That tendency to reticence included my father, who only ever spoke of a few stories, all humorous.

Still unexplained in this whole thing is why the original source of the story told the story he did. I may eventually get to ask that question, but for now, I'm not inclined to do so. My only assumtion right now as to the 'why' is that it could have been a 'cocktail party' embellishment.