West Hartford Man, 101, Receives Congressional Gold Medal

As if celebrating turning 101 isn’t special enough, imagine being surprised with a Congressional Gold Medal as part of the celebration.

For West Hartford resident Michael Popovich, that’s exactly what happened.

Popovich was surprised on Oct. 17, his 101th birthday, with his medal from Civil Air Patrol Col. Cassandra Huchko and Lt. Col. Jim Ridley for his service in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II, according to the Hartford Courant.

• To sign up for West Hartford breaking news alerts and more, click here.

The Courant reports Popovich became a licensed airplane mechanic in 1938 and bought an airplane and joined the Civil Air Patrol in 1942.

Popovich told the Courant he started serving in Waterbury to patrol the waters, looking for German submarines and other enemy craft and flew his own two-seat Taylorcraft along the Eastern Seaboard as far north as Bar Harbor, Maine.

He said that even though he served until 1945, he never saw any enemy ships.

Read more about Popovich’s service at the Hartford Courant here.

Image via Shutterstock