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thedrifter
02-22-07, 02:56 PM
Today: February 22, 2007 at 11:45:7 PST

Reno man gets medal 65 years after World War II wounds

ASSOCIATED PRESS

RENO, Nev. (AP) - Sixty-five years after being wounded in World War II, an 85-year-old Reno man has received a Purple Heart.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid presented the medal to Roy Noring during a ceremony Wednesday at the Air National Guard base in Reno.

Noring's wife, Dora, a son, two daughters, a stepsister and grandchildren attended the ceremony.

"Oh my goodness, I am telling you there are no words to express the look on his face when Sen. Reid presented that (Purple Heart) to him," Dora Noring told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Noring was shot in the head in September 1942 while crossing a stream on the island of Guadalcanal. A helmet prevented the bullet from entering his head, but shrapnel settled in his head and neck.

Military doctors told him that no one should ever operate because the shrapnel was too close to nerves in his neck.

"I still have one hunk of lead floating around in my system somewhere," Noring said. "Last time they X-rayed me, it was in my shoulder."

Noring enlisted in the Marines Corps in August 1940, several months before the draft commenced. He shipped out immediately.

The 1st Marine Raider Battalion to which he belonged became known as Edson's Raiders after its commander, "Red Mike" Edson. The Raiders fought in the Solomon Islands in 1942-43.

Noring was a squad leader soon to be promoted to corporal when he was wounded.

Noring moved from northern California to Reno in the late 1980s to be close to the veterans hospital. Noring suffered a heart attack in 1987 and received outpatient care for six years.

Ellie