GIRARD - A local veteran and Purple Heart recipient has died at 78.

According to a report from the Girard Police Department, officers were called to a parking lot on West Liberty Street just before 1 p.m. on Wednesday, January 7 for a man slumped over in the driver's seat of a running vehicle.

That man was identified as 78-year-old Leo Connelly Jr. of Youngstown.

Police say Connelly was not breathing and had no pulse. He was pronounced dead just after 1:30 p.m.

Connelly is a highly decorated U.S. Army veteran in the Mahoning Valley. He's received several awards, including the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Victories for Veterans Award, as well as the Purple Heart.

"He was just all for the veterans, anything for our brothers and sisters, he was there," said Dale Baringer, of the Mahoning County Veterans Services Commission, representing the DAV. 

Connelly began his military service in 1966 when he was drafted into the Vietnam War. He was wounded a year later while rescuing a fellow soldier during Operation Billings.

Connelly was reaching down to pick up a fellow soldier when he was stabbed by a Viet Cong soldier lying next to him. Connelly defeated the Viet Cong soldier and carried his comrade to a helicopter for medical care before he returned to the battle and continued to fight.

He was discharged from active duty in 1968.

"It is one of those recognitions that we do take great pride in," said Derick Young, also a purple heart recipient, and member of the veteran services commission. 

Back home, Connelly served on the Mahoning Valley Veteran Services Commission and has been inducted into the Ohio Military Hall of Fame for Valor.

"When it comes to his leadership and his impact on the veterans in the community hopefully I can do the same and apply that in my own way to helping any veterans in the Mahoning Valley, not just Mahoning County.

Connelly was also honored as the Mahoning Valley United Veterans Council's Veteran of the Year in 2011 and named the Second Brigade Motorcycle Club of Ohio Honoree in 2012.