SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah veteran who was captured and held as a prisoner of war in 1944 was honored Saturday at the University of Utah’s football game against Arizona State.
Utah Senator Orrin Hatch presented 95-year-old H. Grant Keller with a Prisoner of War Medal during the break after the first quarter of the game.
“World War II veterans are some of the greatest Americans we’ve ever known, and as we honor our nation’s veterans this weekend, it’s my true privilege to stand with Lt. Colonel Keeler and present him with this great honor,” Hatch stated in a press release.
Keller, a retired Air Force Lt. Col., was a prisoner of war for almost 6 months during World War II after a plane he was piloting was shot down over Germany. Hatch was able to present Keller with the medal after Hatch learned Keller had not received all of the medals he had earned.
The presentation comes two days before Veterans Day. A military family was also honored at the game, and a Utah soldier who had been deployed to Afghanistan gave his son and pregnant wife a surprise homecoming during halftime—see that video here.
