Politics & Government
Libertyville War Veteran Awarded Congressional Gold Medal
Howard Pollari, 93, was bestowed with the honor last week. Pollari served in World War II.
LIBERTYVILLE, IL -- A 93-year-old Libertyville war veteran was presented with a Congressional Gold Medal last week for his service during World War II. Howard Pollari was one of 13,000 assigned to the Office of Strategic Service or OSS, which was a precursor to the CIA, during WWII, according to a Facebook post from Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Deerfield. Pollari was a flight engineer during moonlight “carpetbagger” operations where he assisted in delivering supplies to resistance fighters and allies in Nazi-occupied Norway.
"We were helping the so-called freedom fighters,” Pollari told the Lake County News-Sun. “We dropped boxes attached to parachutes. We were flying as low as 500 feet. We dropped them from the bomb bays of the planes. There were no bombs there then.”
There are currently fewer than 100 surviving OSS members, according to the Lake County-News Sun.
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Schneider presented the Congressional Gold Medal to Pollari on Aug. 15 in the congressman's Lincolnshire office.
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More via the Lake County News-Sun
Photo caption: Rep Brad Schneider presents the Congressional Gold Medal to Howard Pollari. Photo credit: Brad Schneider's Facebook page
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