GARDNERVILLE, Nev. (AP) – More than seven decades after he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, a 92-year-old World War II veteran from northern Nevada has been awarded the Purple Heart.
Russell Rodgers of Gardnerville served as a private first class in the Army’s 101st Airborne’s 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment.
The long wait for his medal – caused in part by the loss of his records in a fire in Chicago – came to an end over the weekend at a family celebration at the senior living center where he lives about 45 miles south of Reno.
“I joined the Airborne to see if they were crazy or brave, and I’ve learned that they are both,” Rodgers told The (Gardnerville) Record Courier http://tinyurl.com/hk6vazt ).
“Being a part of them is a dream come true for me when I thought I wouldn’t even get into the military,” he said. “This is just icing on the cake, to be awarded this.”