On Thursday, Joe Moser, 87, gained a new distinction. Moser was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, a commendation given to aviators for "heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight."

The medal was a long time coming: 64 years after he earned it in a bombing mission.

Moser flew 44 missions in World War II, but he said he has no memories of the mission in which he earned the medal. He received it for a bombing run carried out July 30, 1944.

But two weeks later, Moser was shot down, and he never learned of the high honors he had earned for another 50 years. That discovery resulted in a years-long process, eventually culminating in Thursday's ceremony.

Moser's story differs from those of 350 American soldiers recently featured in a CNN.com report. Those soldiers were held at a subcamp of Buchenwald and used as slave labor by the Nazi government. Nearly half of them died in captivity or on a subsequent death march.

The Army has said it plans to honor the dozen or so survivors from the subcamp known as Berga an der Elster in coming weeks.