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GREAT FALLS- Lewis W. Holzheimer, a World War II veteran, received military medals on Friday in Great Falls for his service, after more than 50 years.

Lewis was born and raised in Neihart, and enlisted in the U.S. Army after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

He fought as part of the 9th Infantry, 60th Regiment, and traveled through France and Germany fighting for our country.

Lewis was wounded twice while in battle, once on the foot, and the other under his left arm.

Lewis's daughter Grayce was looking through her father's documentation when she found the stories of his time in the Army.

"We were looking at it and realized that he had won, his unit had won a unit citation award, and we were wondering, well where's that award?," she recalled.

After researching online action reports, Grayce hired a researcher to go through historic archives and find the reports of her father's injuries and awards.

"It"s important, and it's history. and it just takes a little bit of time and a little bit of paperwork," Grayce said.

When Grayce found out that her father would finally be awarded the medals he earned more than 50 years ago, the family was ecstatic; she said, "My dad has been so generous all his life, so it's nice to see generosity come back towards him."

Holzheimer was presented with a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, Combat Infantry award, and the Presidential Unit Citation by U.S. Senator Jon Tester.

"I'm just glad it came to happen. It's been quite a time to try to remember all of this. It's something that I didn't expect," Holzheimer said.