‘I Want My Purple Heart:’ WWII Veteran Pushes for Medal He Said Earned 80 Years Ago

World War II veteran Glenn Fisher has lived a long, rewarding life. He’s set to turn 100 later this year. However, something very important is missing – the Purple Heart Fisher said he earned 80 years ago. 

Fighting with the Army along Europe’s Rhine River in 1945, Fisher was struck by shrapnel, with a piece breaking off and staying in his body for decades. Wounded in combat, Fisher figured he would receive his Purple Heart sometime after World War II. It never arrived. 

Fisher applied for the medal about 45 years ago but never received a response from government officials. He made another attempt in 2010, but still no medal. Knocking on the door to 100, and knowing his time is limited, Fisher hopes his story will generate public interest and he will finally receive his Purple Heart.  

“It’s something that I laid down my life for, it’s something that I’ve earned, and it’s something I should be presented,” Fisher told WLKY in Louisville. 

Fisher joined the war effort in 1943, signing up for the Army at just 16 years old. In September 1944, Fisher was sent to England, before moving on to Utah Beach, France and the Netherlands, where he was wounded by German soldiers during the Rhine River Crossing in March 1945.  

“They were shooting so many rounds, and it was an airburst and the thing goes off about 20 feet off the ground and slings 100 or some pieces of shrapnel,” Fisher recalls. “Well, one of them hit me.” 

Two soldiers in his unit died. Fisher was among the 14 injured. His injury was documented, but the official date was listed incorrectly.  

“They put that I was there in June or something,” he said. “And that can’t be possible.” 

Securing Evidence, Paperwork 

Fisher had surgery three years ago when doctors spotted the eight-decade-old shrapnel still lodged in his body. 

“It was hard to tell them what exactly happened to me, but it was kind of fascinating that I carried that,” Fisher said. 

His medical team removed the shrapnel and gave it to him, but the veteran has since lost the piece. 

Close friend Jeff Thoke, who’s worked with Fisher to try to obtain his Purple Heart, said losing the shrapnel was a tough blow because any piece of evidence they can provide to the federal government helps his chances of receiving his long-awaited medal. 

Thoke does have official Army documentation of Fisher getting hospitalized in 1945, being discharged, and re-hospitalized a few months later, suffering complications from a re-infected wound. 

However, they have no documentation from the day he was wounded. 

“We have a lot of circumstantial evidence, but we don’t have anything saying Glenn was wounded; that’s the issue,” Thoke said. 

But Thoke and Fisher are keeping their fingers crossed that they have enough material showing the veteran deserves a Purple Heart. Thoke has requested the Army interview Fisher in person so he can substantiate his story.

With his 100th birthday looming, it could be the coveted birthday gift he’s longed for for 80 years.