Bronze Star Is Presented to Veteran After 60 Years

Victor Delgado, a California native who pulled a Texas soldier to safety while in the Army during World War II, was awarded the Bronze Star at a surprise 80th birthday party in his son’s backyard.

Army Major J. Todd Breasseale presented the medal and other service awards Saturday to a uniformed Delgado.

“It’s 60 years late, but this is great,” said Maria Guadalupe Delgado, one of Delgado’s siblings who attended the party.

Delgado told his family and friends that, although his discharge papers noted he was awarded the Bronze Star, “I never got it, so I never could show it.”

Delgado, who fought in the Pacific, had run back into the line of fire to rescue a wounded soldier, military officials said. When the fighting was over, he returned to Los Angeles without waiting to get his medals.