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In 1944, he received a bit part as a Russian correspondent Peter Voroshevski, who again is stopped at the door and not allowed in the trial, in The Purple Heart starring Dana Andrews and Richard Conte based on the captured pilots from the Doolittle Raid over Tokyo.
On July 18, 1980, he was presented the Bronze Star Medal (second oak leaf cluster), the Legion of Merit, and the Purple Heart (sixth oak leaf cluster) by the US Army and the Croix de guerre with silver-gilt star by a representative from France during a special ceremony at the Pentagon.
Vakoc received the Purple Heart in his room at Walter Reed Army Medical Center during a private ceremony limited to immediate family members, Army personnel, and then-U.S. Senator Norm Coleman, who presented the medal.