The honor comes nearly 70 years after he served.
This former prisoner of war has been through it all — and he's finally being honored with all the Eagle Scout awards he deserved.
Ed Soria, of Lake Shastina, California, joined the Eagle Scouts at 18 years old, right before he left to serve his country in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.
Earlier this week, he finally earned his Eagle Scout honors for all his accomplishments on the battlefield.
“My Eagle Scout training helped me tremendously to survive in a very harsh environment,” Soria, now in his 80s, told KTVL.
Soria was one of 700 men taken prisoner in 1950, known as the Tiger Survivors.
“We lost 58 percent of men to malnutrition," Soria said. “No medical help.”
Today, only 36 of the Tiger Survivors remain — and Soria said he still tries to keep in touch with some of them.
When he returned from Korea, he didn’t let his stint as a captive slow him down and he immediately enlisted in the Vietnam War.
"There’s nothing like freedom, and freedom isn’t free," he said. "You have to fight for it."
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