Exactly 100 years after Private Walter Rydzewski was shot in World War I, he receives a posthumous Purple Heart.
Rydzewski was shot in the chest on October 14, 1918 in France.
Rydzewski's nephew, great granddaughter, and great grandson received the award on his behalf.
His family said it all started with an ancestry.com search.
"I didn't know much about my grandmothers father, so I made that my main focus. And the more I found I kept saying it to my uncle. We kept making the connections. We figured out who he was. We knew for a fact it was him. He (Rydzewski's nephew) realized he never got his purple heart, so he made it his mission to make this happen," Traci Vanzyl, his great granddaughter, said.
Have a news tip, question or comment?
Take WKBW Everywhere, on all your devices. Download below!
Phone or Tablet: Apple, Android
Set-top Device: Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Alexa
Personalize your news, get the latest 7 First Alert Forecast, and watch 7 Eyewitness News video wherever, whenever.
Learn more here about what 7 Eyewitness News provides on all these devices.
