NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A 91-year-old veteran who was dismissed from the U.S. Air Force as “undesirable” in 1948 because he is gay has had that discharge status changed to “honorable.”

The move by the Air Force comes in response to a lawsuit filed in November by H. Edward Spires of Norwalk, Connecticut, who served in the late 1940s.PREVIOUS: 91-year-old gay veteran sues Air Force over ‘undesirable discharge’

Spires’ Yale University-based attorneys say he was originally denied the upgrade after the repeal of the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy in 2010 because the Air Force said his records had been lost in a 1973 fire.

The Air Force Review Boards Agency informed Spires on Friday that the honorable discharge has been approved.

Spires’ attorneys have said he is in poor health and would like a military funeral, which the upgrade makes possible.