The prestigious Purple Heart is given to American soldiers who have been severely injured or killed while serving in the United States military.
After more than 74 years, a World War II veteran finally received the medal he rightfully deserves.
Meet the 94-year-old Max Bergen, who served during the Second World War and returned home to the States after it ended. He now resides in the Wisconsin Veterans Home at Chippewa Falls. His experience in the war was traumatic, to say the least.
The veteran enlisted back in 1943 and was a proud bomb squadron member of the Air Force. The man and his crew always flew B17 bombers over Germany and occupied France, but one day, things went south.
During his 21st mission on March 29th, 1944, Max and his crew members were shot down.
“I was the tail gunner,” the veteran told Leader-Telegram. “We had flown over Brunswick, Germany. As we came off the target, we were hit by German fighters.”
When it became clear that the plane wouldn’t be able to last in the air for much longer, the pilot gave all of the crew members the chance to grab one of the parachutes in the plane, and jump out.
However, nobody took him up on that offer because they were confident in his piloting skills, even in these dire circumstances. As fate would have it – the pilot managed to ‘land’ gently and everyone managed to escape.
“We were told we were going to crash,” Max recalls. “Our pilot was so good — we slid in almost as gently as you would on a landing. I’d like to think God was flying that day.”
The pilot along with the nine crew members – including Max – all scattered in different directions to avoid capture by the German forces. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long before the enemy was able to find and capture Max because the plane landed near a German airbase.
“A German soldier, he said in perfect English, ‘Come out with your hands up,’” the man recalls. “He said, ‘For you, the war is over.’”
Because of the adrenaline rush of the plane crash, Max didn’t initially realize that his arm was hurt.
“I had a flesh wound in the left shoulder,” he told. “It was like someone threw gravel in my shoulder. It was shrapnel. My right ankle was bleeding. None of my wounds were serious.”
After he was taken captive, the man spent 14 months of his life as a prisoner of war.
He was sent to Austria and only had a small cell and didn’t even have access to basic necessities. In early May of 1945, Allied forces were able to overtake the prison and free Max and his fellow inmates.
When the war was over, all ten people involved in that plane crash were still alive. Max has now outlived all of them.
Max’s son was trying to determine if his dad would be eligible for a Purple Heart, but he faced some documentation issues.
“The awarding of the Purple Heart requires written documentation describing the injury,” commandant Mark Wilson of the veteran home center said. “But he was taken directly from the crashed airplane to the prison camp; there was no documentation of the injury.”
Luckily, the commandant was just as determined as the son of the veteran to make sure Max could finally get what he rightfully deserved.
Mark researched the prison camps, took pictures of the man’s scars and sorted all of the paperwork. It took a while and the process certainly wasn’t easy nor straightforward, but the determination was absolutely worth it.
After 74 years, it was official. Max Bergen would finally receive his Purple Heart medal.
“I don’t know if words can accurately describe how I feel,” he told while holding back his tears. “It was overwhelming. I was stunned. It took a long time for it to sink in. I didn’t realize it would mean so much to me, but it does. I’m just grateful for all the work done for me.”
The crew members and other residents of the veterans home couldn’t be any happier for the proud man.
“We are very excited to be able to give him this great honor,” director Katie Plendl said. “It’s a long time coming.”
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