HAVERHILL, Mass. — John Gale was delivering supplies to a U.S. Army post on the Port of Algiers when German airplanes attacked.

"Bombs were dropping," he said. "Ships were exploding in the harbor."

One explosion was close enough to deafen the sergeant. He was the lucky one. Two men 100 feet away lay bleeding to death from shrapnel. Gale grabbed a 50-caliber gun and sprayed anti-aircraft fire until the planes were gone.

Now, 66 years after the World War II attack, Gale is still partially deaf in his left ear. The Army has recognized his injury and given him the Purple Heart.

"I earned it, so I might as well get it," said Gale, 93, who lives in an assisted-living complex.

Gale said he realized something was wrong after the attack. He was deaf for a week or so, though his hearing gradually returned.

"I did not realize that it was not all back," he said. "I kept it to myself.''

He hid his partial deafness through the rest of his 20-year enlisted career. He did not mention it when he "changed hats" in 1961 to become an administrative, non-commissioned officer at an Army complex in Maryland, where he remained there for 20 more years.