Vet gets Purple Heart 61 years after wound

SOUTHAMPTON, N.J., May 29 (UPI) -- A New Jersey man is finally getting the Purple Heart he earned in the last days of World War II.

Ray Connolly was hit by flying shrapnel when a German plane came down near the farmhouse where his unit was holed up. A medic bandaged his cuts, and the wound was never reported because the unit moved on.

In 1990, Connolly applied for a Purple Heart. But his application was turned down because he could not supply an eyewitness to verify his account, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Mike Panarella, a friend and local high school teacher, managed to track down Sherman Wherry, the medic who patched Connolly up in 1945. Connolly said that when he got on the phone with Wherry "it was like everything happened a couple years ago."

With an affidavit from Wherry and an assist from Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., Connolly has his medal.