FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) _ Relatives of an Indiana-born soldier killed during the Vietnam War will receive his posthumous Purple Heart more than 40 years after his death.

Fort Wayne native Capt. Herbert Crosby was 22 when his helicopter went down in southern Vietnam in January 1970. His remains were returned to the United States in 2006.

Crosby’s sister had campaigned for her brother to receive a Purple Heart, but the military told her he wasn’t eligible because his helicopter didn’t crash while in combat.

But Marylou Wade discovered in 2011 that her brother’s co-pilot, who also died in the crash, had received the Purple Heart.

The Journal Gazette reports she learned this week that her 94-year-old mother will receive her brother’s posthumous honor at the Florida nursing home where she lives.