CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. (AP) - A World War II veteran who spent more than a year as a prisoner of war is finally being awarded the Purple Heart.

  

The Leader-Telegram reports that 94-year-old Max Bergen will receive the medal Friday. The Wisconsin man says he's overwhelmed and stunned by the honor.

  

Bergen was serving on a bomb squadron when he was shot down over Germany in 1944. He was held prisoner at a camp in Austria for 14 months.

  

Bergen suffered shoulder and ankle wounds in the crash, but he had no paperwork about the injuries because he was immediately taken prisoner. Such documentation is needed for the medal that honors troops injured in combat.

  

Documentation was recently assembled with help from a U.S. senator and the Chippewa Falls veterans home where Bergen lives.