Forgotten bomb raid hero honoured after 61 years

An 85-year-old Beverly Hills psychiatrist has been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, America’s second-highest military honour, at the White House, more than six decades after he saved the life of a badly-wounded mission commander aboard a bomber crippled during a Second World War raid over occupied France.

Dr Bernard Bail’s medal was pinned to his chest by US vice president Dick Cheney, who told him: “From the day of our founding, the decisive protector of this nation’s freedom has been the character of citizens like you.”