A Central Valley man who was wounded battling the Germans in North Africa during World War II has posthumously been awarded a Purple Heart.
The Fresno Bee reports (
) that the medal, along with a Prisoner of War award, were presented to Edmund D'Arcy-Clarke's widow in Clovis on Tuesday.
D'Arcy-Clarke - a U.S. Army infantryman - suffered shrapnel wounds while part of a combined American and British force defending a mountain pass in Tunisia. He was then held prisoner by the Germans before escaping.
His widow, Vera, says her husband didn't receive the Purple Heart award before his death in 1997 in part because of a fire at a Missouri facility that housed military records proving his wounds.
The Bee reports that Kyle Turner, an aide to U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, was able to confirm the Purple Heart.
Information from: The Fresno Bee,
The Associated Press