State Rep. Jared Solomon last week presented a Congressional Gold Medal to World War II veteran Max Gordon during a ceremony at the Philadelphia Protestant Home.
Max and Hilda Gordon have lived on the 1100 block of McKinley St. since 1954, and both have received inpatient therapy at the Protestant Home.
Max Gordon enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1943. The next year, he was assigned to the Office of Strategic Services, an intelligence agency that was the precursor to the CIA. He served in India and Burma.
In December 2016, Congress passed a law giving a Congressional Gold Medal to the office, and ordering the Treasury to make medals for OSS members.
Solomon, a captain in the Army Reserve, read a House citation in honor of Gordon, who earned medals, awards and badges during his service. He was discharged in 1946 with the rank of corporal.
Solomon was joined by Michele Lockman, an aide to U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle, and Phil Innamorato, an aide to U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey. Innamorato presented Gordon with an American flag and a resolution.
Gordon was thankful for the turnout at the ceremony.
“You made me feel like a king,” he said. ••
