"I had no complaints. They were very good to me," he said of the Army.

"I went to Europe with a rifle and a barracks bag," said the New York City native. "I returned with a wife, a child and a truckload of furniture."

After the Army, Gale and his wife, Jacqueline, and daughter, Patricia, settled into Aberdeen, Maryland. He took up golf, five days a week.

In 2003, after 55 years of marriage, Jacqueline died. Gale's daughter encouraged him to live with her in Plaistow, N.H., just north of Haverhill. A short time later, he started thinking about the Purple Heart.

"I don't know what made me do it,'' he said. "I thought about it and said, 'I want it.'" So began a three-year process of "a lot of paperwork and procedures,'' he said.

Social worker Kerry Slattery helped him make the case. "He was injured for his country. He should have it," Slattery said. "It's a big honor, and I'm glad that he went through with it."

The award has brought Gale attention. A local country club have him a year's worth of free golf. He said his grandson, who is named for him, and two great-grandsons are fascinated by the medal.