FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – On Thursday, a 94-year-old World War II veteran from Florence County received a hero’s honor.
The Florence Order of the Purple Heart awarded Rudolph Pierce with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals 71 years after he fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
“You don’t know how proud I am. I can’t talk. It took a long ways to travel,” Pierce said after the ceremony.
Many gathered at the Florence Veteran’s Park for this ceremony that Pierce’s family and others have worked on for years to make happen. Pierce actually enlisted in the Army in 1936 at age 15, although he lied about his age, because the army was paying $17 a month.
Pierce was involved in three campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium where he was wounded. He served over 7 years and his overseas service amounted to almost 4 years.
However at the end of WWII, many soldiers’ records got lost in that hectic time immediately following the war. A facility in St. Louis, that housed many records burned in 1973, destroying a great deal of the information the army had on individuals.
Pierce and family members have tried to secure some medals that he deserved but may not have received. On Christmas Eve, the Army Board for Corrections of Military Records, sent documentation of the medals he deserved as well as the medals themselves.
Altogether, the Army awarded him with the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart Medal, the Europe-Africa-Middle East Medal with three campaign stars, the Army Occupation Medal with Germany Clasp, and the WWII Victory Medal.
