WWII veteran to receive belated military honors

By The Associated Press

News@abc6.com

JOHNSTON, R.I. (AP) _ A World War II veteran from Rhode Island is finally receiving the military honors he earned in combat while in the Army.

Eighty-nine-year-old Alfred Bettencourt, of Cranston, will be presented with the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and WWII Victory Medal on Monday afternoon at the Morgan Health Center in Johnston.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed is hosting the ceremony. Reed’s office says Bettencourt was 18 when he was wounded in France on Dec. 12, 1944.

Bettencourt’s military records were destroyed in a fire in 1973. Reed’s office worked with

Bettencourt to obtain the medals he earned. The National World War II Museum in New

Orleans says more than 855,000 World War II veterans were alive as of Jan. 1.

The museum says approximately 16 million Americans served in the war.

© The Associated Press / WLNE-TV 2015