Del Mar man receives Bronze Star 70 years after military service

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The Bronze Star is the fourth largest individual award in the U.S. Military and one local man who was in the Army and the Navy, waited almost a lifetime to get one.

Robert Sulit was drafted into the U.S. Army at the age of 18. He was sent to Europe to fight in World War II in 1944 as a 3rd machine gunner.

"I saw most of the action after we entered Frankfurt and met the Russians at the border of Czechoslovakia," he said.

Another one of his duties was to identify and clear mines, so his fellow soldiers could advance safely. 

After surviving the war, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Navy Reserves and worked for the Department of Defense as a nuclear physicist. 

But now, 70 years after the end of the war, Captain Sulit is getting his due from Congressman Darrell Issa.

Why did this take so long? The 89-year-old from Del Mar has several awards, but not this one.

He read somewhere he was eligible for the Bronze Star because of his duty and he asked his wife to investigate.

This is a member of the greatest generation, finally getting his well deserved 'thank you.'

Congressman Issa said if anyone thinks they are entitled to something like this, they need to contact their local congressmen and women. He said a large part of his staffing dollars are used to honor constituents who made a difference.