This May 11, 2015 photo provided by Zachariah Fike of Purple Hearts Reunited shows Pvt. Daniel Quinlan's Purple Heart. The medal, one of the first Purple Heart medals ever awarded to American military personnel is being returned to a relative of Quinlan's, who received it for wounds suffered during World War I. Purple Hearts Reunited said Quinlan’s medal was sent to the Vermont-based group recently with a note saying it was found in the mid-1990s in the attic of a Hudson Valley home near where Quinlan lived before he died in a 1938 car crash. (Zachariah Fike/Purple Hearts Reunited via AP)Left: This undated photo provided by William Quinlan shows his grandfather and World War I veteran Pvt. Daniel Quinlan. Right: This May 2015 photo provided by Zachariah Fike, of Purple Hearts Reunited, shows Pvt. Quinlan’s Purple Heart. ap
This May 11, 2015 photo provided by Zachariah Fike of Purple Hearts Reunited shows Pvt. Daniel Quinlan's Purple Heart. The medal, one of the first Purple Heart medals ever awarded to American military personnel is being returned to a relative of Quinlan's, who received it for wounds suffered during World War I. Purple Hearts Reunited said Quinlan’s medal was sent to the Vermont-based group recently with a note saying it was found in the mid-1990s in the attic of a Hudson Valley home near where Quinlan lived before he died in a 1938 car crash. (Zachariah Fike/Purple Hearts Reunited via AP)Left: This undated photo provided by William Quinlan shows his grandfather and World War I veteran Pvt. Daniel Quinlan. Right: This May 2015 photo provided by Zachariah Fike, of Purple Hearts Reunited, shows Pvt. Quinlan’s Purple Heart. ap Credit: Zachariah Fike

Associated Press

A World War II veteran who recently won his battle to receive a Purple Heart has been buried at the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery.

Francis Byrne died Jan. 3 of bladder cancer. He was 94. When he was diagnosed several months ago, he said his dying wish was to get his long-awaited Purple Heart.

That wish was fulfilled during a Dec. 14 ceremony, more than seven decades after Byrne was hit by shrapnel from a landmine while in the line of duty in Belgium. His commanding officer died before he could complete the paperwork for Byrne to get a Purple Heart.

WMUR reported Monday family and friends were joined at the funeral by some who said they never knew Byrne, but wanted to pay their respects because his story had touched them.