RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — South Dakota U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds has presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the family of a man who served as a Civil Air Patrol pilot during World War II.

Rounds announced Monday that he presented the medal to the family of the late Vernon Roy Jeffries.

Rounds says it's an honor to present the family with the medal, which is the U.S.'s highest civilian award.

Jeffries flew airplanes off the coast of New Jersey looking for Nazi submarines.

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