Clinton, N.C. — George Byron Rose was a young man when he left Sampson County to fight in World War II – a three-year deployment that took him from Africa to Normandy.

Along the way, Rose received numerous medals and honors for his service and gallantry in battle. General George Patton even pinned his silver star.

Rose wore his medal and stars through battle, many well worn, some were lost. When he returned, he tucked most away in a drawer for more than six decades.

Replaced, shiny and now proudly displayed, Congressman Mike McIntyre officially presented his collection to Roses' wife, Alice, and two of his grown sons.

Rose planned to be there, himself, but he died unexpectedly a little more than a week ago at age 93.

"I'm extremely proud of my husband," Alice Rose said Monday. "He was very excited, very excited, and maybe, he is here."

Rose's family said his stories of war, much like his medals, were tucked away for many years.

"I am still trying to grasp all of this," his son, George Rose said. "He told more in later years than he ever told any of us growing up. We're learning too."

It was his wife who got him talking decades later.

"We'd be sitting at the breakfast table, and he'd say, 'Sixty-three year ago, I was at such and such place.' It was all very very vivid to him," Alice Rose said.

Now, with help from the local veterans association, the service of another World War II hero can now be displayed and shared, the story of a Sgt. George Byron Rose.