Celebrated World War II veteran Willard R. Norfleet died Thursday at the age of 90.

Affectionately known as "Handsome Willard," Norfleet served as a technical sergeant in the 29th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army. The Roanoke resident participated in the D-Day invasion and received a Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service.

A 1994 article in The Roanoke Times said that Norfleet joined the National Guard at the age of 20 in 1938. The native Roanoker had only finished the fifth grade before he started working first as a roofer and later at an auto parts business before heading to war.

The article described how Norfleet was wounded by friendly fire when an artillery shell hit a tree near him and shrapnel ripped through his right elbow. He nearly bled to death, and the wound left his arm permanently crippled.

When he returned to Virginia, Norfleet spent more than a year at Woodrow Wilson General Hospital in Augusta County. While there, he married Helen Lancaster, a Roanoke woman he knew from before the war.

Norfleet was only able to talk about D-Day in his later years. "I wanted to forget about it, get it out of my mind," he was quoted as saying in the 1994 article.

The article also stated: "A self-described sinner before the war, Norfleet promised God that he would become a devout Christian if he lived through the invasion."

He remained true to that vow and was a member of Penn Forest Wesleyan Church for more than 50 years.