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Jed Boal ReportingA Rush Valley veteran injured in World War II still waits for his purple heart. A veterans' advocate continues to battle a maze of beaurocracy for the honor.
Clinton Sagers still tends to the horses and tackles daily chores on his Rush Valley farm. Sagers was born and raised in this community, drafted at 21and sent to Belgium for the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944.
Clinton Sagers, World War II Veteran: "It was so bad on the front lines, I was going to ask the Lord to take my life. And I said, 'Don't be that chicken Sagers, hang in there.'"
As the battle raged, German shrapnel hit Sagers below the knee..
Clinton Sagers, World War II Veteran: "I could feel it, warm blood going down into my boot."
Surrounded and losing many men, the Americans surrendered. Sagers says Germans marched them to the rear without water or rest. He struggled to keep up and a fellow soldier warned him.
Clinton Sagers, World War II Veteran: "He said, 'If you can make it, you better make it because they're shooting the ones that drop out behind."
As a POW, Sagers dropped from nearly 200 pounds to 89. A Russian doctor removed the shrapnel from his infected knee. Five months later, the Allies won the war and Sagers was free..
After the war when Sagers first came back to his farm in Rush Valley, he didn't think much about the Purple Heart, but as time went on, it became more important to him.
Clinton Sagers, World War II Veteran: "I've been trying to get that for a long while. I always figured I earned it."
There are no records from the POW camp and other military records were lost in a fire in St.Louis.
Terry Schow, Director, Utah Division of Veterans Affairs: "There's no more deserving person than Mr. Sagers. It's become a cause for me because he's been done an injustice."
The Utah Division of Veterans Affairs has pushed the Pentagon through the congressional delegation, the governor, even the president, with no results.
Terry Schow, Director, Utah Division of Veterans Affairs: "I will not rest and I've committed to Clinton until he's got his Purple Heart."
Clinton Sagers, World War II Veteran: "I just think that I deserve it and I want to have it before I kick the bucket." "I JUST THINK THAT I DESERVE IT, AND WANT TO HAVE IT BEFORE I KICK THE BUCKET."
Ultimately, the Army will decide if Sagers wins this battle.
