brace was released on march 28, 1973, spending 7 years, 10 months and 7 days in captivity, making him the longest-held civilian pow in vietnam. brace had not been listed as a prisoner during the past 7 years. his wife patricia assumed her husband was dead and she remarried; a fact brace found out at the processing station after his release. while receiving out-patient care in naval medical center san diego, brace met a nurse named nancy stationed there. he married her and moved to her hometown of klamath falls, oregon where he later resided. in light of brace's time as a pow, president gerald ford issued him a full pardon as well as an honorable discharge from the marine corps. brace, captured as a civilian, was nominated for the prisoner of war medal and the purple heart by admiral stockdale, the senior officer among us prisoners held during the vietnam war. because department of defense regulations prohibit civilians from receiving military awards, the nominations were denied four times. the most recent application in 2011, sent to the office of united states secretary of the navy ray mabus through fellow former pow john mccain was successful. brace commented that "these medals are the ones no one wants to get" as personal suffering is involved in qualifying for them.