WW2 veteran awarded Purple Heart after declining honor 70 years ago - Hannah Selby 4th

89-year-old WW2 veteran Richard Faulkner was finally awarded the Purple Heart medal - the oldest military award still given to members of the military that was originally established as the Badge of Military Merit by George Washington in 1782 - on Saturday, after he'd turned down the offer in 1944. At age 19, he was the only survivor of a head-on plane collision over France between another aircraft and the B-17 bomber in which he was flying. The collision caused his plane to split in two, and he parachuted to safety by jumping out of the plane's gun turret, and landed in the countryside. A farmer helped cure his wounds, hid him in a hayloft, and contacted French resistance fighters. Soon, a British torpedo bomber came to bring him to safety. On the way back to Allied lines, however, the bomber was attacked by German aircraft, and Faulkner took over the craft's guns when the man formerly in charge of them was shot and killed by the enemy planes. Faulkner finally made it to Britain in 1944 and was offered the Purple Heart, but declined it; stating that he had a hard time getting over the tragedy and couldn't believe that he was the only one who survived

However, in recent years, Faukner began to regret his decision since he wanted something that his descendents could remember him for. His daughter-in-law contacted his congressman and determined that he was still eligible to receive the medal. Thus 100 people observed as he was decorated with the medal. Faulkner's congressman stated: "to me, meeting Mr. Faulkner is like meeting a hero from history...but live in the flesh."

I think it's cool to hear stories like this about peoples' courage during crisis and just goes to show what we are capable of when we have faith, confidence, and determination. It's good that he's still able to receive the medal so that he can have something to be proud of and pass on to his descendents.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/03/10/richard-faulkner-world-war-ii-veteran-awarded-purple-heart-after-declining/?cmpid=ac_salutes