BATON ROUGE — A 102-year-old World War II veteran was honored on Saturday in Baton Rouge for his service during the war. 

Lt. Murray Lirette received the Belgian distinction of Ridder in de Leopoldsorde or Chevalier de l'Ordre de Léopold, otherwise known as the rank of knighthood, from the Deputy Ambassador and the Honorary Consul for Belgium in Louisiana, Hon. Roland Vandenweghe. 

The decoration was presented in recognition of Lirette's service in his platoon during World War II. He is the last surviving prisoner of war from the "Bloody Hundredth," and one of only three survivors from his crew when they were shot down over Belgium in 1944.

Lirette was wounded when the B-17 exploded, causing him to be treated at a German hospital before entering Stalag Luft III, a prisoner of war camp.   

During the closing months of the war, Lirette survived the forced winter march that prisoners of war were forced to go on as the Soviet Army advanced into Germany. 

His injuries caused him to be hospitalized in a German hospital again before being liberated by members of George Patton's army in 1945.