The Opposite of the Opposite of Irony

The hero's family could have a lot of 'Joe the Plumber' fun with this one.

BOSTON — Helen Tilgner remembers seeing a scar on her father's left knee when she was 7, and realizing he had won a Purple Heart for being shot during combat in Vietnam.

But she had no idea that her father had won more than 100 medals and awards until this year — 26 years after he died when his helicopter crashed in Malaysia while he was flying for a private medical rescue company.

On Saturday, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., will present Tilgner and her two sons — both in the Army — with the awards won by her father, Chief Warrant Officer Armit Tilgner, more than three decades after he flew helicopter missions in Vietnam.

John Kerry, Vietnam medals, really?

(H.T. Lucianne.com.)