SC Man Honored With Purple Heart 72 Years After WWII Wounds

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) – A South Carolina man is being honored for the price he paid while fighting Nazis during World War Two.

The Anderson Independent Mail reports 93-year old George Mitchell on Sunday is receiving his Purple Heart medal. He earned it after being wounded during the Battle of the Bulge as a 20-year-old machine-gunner.

The former Minnesota country boy didn’t receive the medal given to service members wounded in action because he didn’t want to worry his sick mother.

Mitchell suffered a severe concussion and cuts when a mortar round exploded directly over his machine gun emplacement. Mitchell went on to earn a Bronze Star for his part in the Allied conquest, then returned home in 1946.

He’s lived in a Clemson retirement community since 2000.