Glenn Fisher was wounded during the war
Credit: WLKY News/YouTube
NEED TO KNOW
- Glenn Fisher enlisted in World War II at 16 after altering his birth year to meet age requirements
- A documentation error listing his injury date incorrectly has prevented him from receiving a Purple Heart
- Fisher’s friend is advocating for the Army to honor him as he approaches his 100th birthday this year
A veteran in Louisville, Ky. is trying for one final time to receive his Purple Heart.
Glenn Fisher enlisted in World War II in 1943 and began serving in the Army 83 years ago.
“It was something that I just laid down my life for, and it’s something that I earned. It’s something that should be presented [to me],” Fisher, 99, told WLKY.
As Fisher's friend Jeff Thoke recalled to the outlet, he was so eager to help in the war that he changed his birth year to fit the age requirements.
“He changed the date because you could only be 17 or older to go in with your parent’s permission. He changed the 6 to a 7, and he went in as a 16-year-old,” Thoke explained.
Fisher went to England in September 1944, and then was deployed to parts of France and the Netherlands. However, in March 1945, he was wounded by German fire during the Rhine River crossing.
“They shot so many rounds that it was an airburst, and the shell went over about 20 feet off the ground and slings hundred and some pieces of shrapnel, well, one hit me,” Fisher said.
While two men were killed and 14 more were injured, Fisher's injury record had the date listed incorrectly, which has proven to be the hurdle in obtaining his Purple Heart. “They put it in June. Something that I wasn't there for. How's that going to be possible?” he explained.
Fisher underwent an unrelated surgery three years ago, where doctors found a piece of shrapnel that was still in there, and is believed to date back 80 years. “It was hard to tell what happened to it, but that was really fascinating that I carried that,” he said.
Yet, the shrapnel piece got lost. Fisher also doesn't have documentation from the day he was wounded, which Thoke says is making it harder. To get the Purple Heart, a record is required.
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Credit: Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty
“We have a lot of circumstantial evidence, but we don’t have anything saying Glenn was wounded. That’s the issue,” Thoke said. They also have documents that Fisher was hospitalized, discharged and then hospitalized again months later for a reinfected wound.
As Fisher is turning 100 this year, his caring friend Thoke is hoping that the Army reconsiders the veteran's Purple Heart application — and honors him for his service.
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