World War II veteran who just received Purple Heart dies

Family and officials say a World War II veteran in New Hampshire who recently received a Purple Heart amid his battle with bladder cancer has died. He was 94.

Francis Byrne died at his New Hampshire home Thursday morning, his family told the Boston Globe. Byrne was diagnosed with terminal bladder cancer two months ago and 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 he was hit by shrapnel from a landmine while in the line of duty in Belgium.

US Senator Jeanne Shaheen, who helped Byrne with his Purple Heart application, remembered him as a man who “sacrificed so much to defend our nation” in a Facebook post .