BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- A former Casselton man is being awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, one of the nation's highest military honors.
Sen. Byron Dorgan says retired Col. Claude Schonberger was nominated for the cross 65 years ago. The award ceremony is scheduled July 19 in the Pentagon's Hall of Heroes.
Schonberger is now 88 and lives in Alexandria, Va. He is being honored for his service during World War II -- particularly a successful B-24 bomber run over Germany in 1945 in which his plane took heavy damage.
He was shot down a few days later and remained in a prisoner of war camp until Germany surrendered. Dorgan speculates Schonberger's nomination for the cross might have become lost during that time.
