WW II vet get medal, dies following day
May 31, 2022 12:00PM CDT
Dogtags hanging in font the flag of the United States of America.
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (AP) — A World War II veteran has died the day after receiving a congressional medal.
The Eau Claire Leader-Telegram reports that Raleigh Nayes of Chippewa Falls was part of Merrill’s Marauders, a unit of several thousand U.S. soldiers who attacked the Japanese from behind their lines in Burma in 1944.
The unit was named for its leader, Brig. Gen. Frank Merrill.
Congress last fall approved the Congressional Gold Medal for all the soldiers in the unit. Nayes received his on April 20 at the assisted living home where he was living.
He died in his sleep early the next morning at age 99.
