France has given its coveted Legion of Honor, its highest honor, to three St. Louis-area veterans of World War II, according to an article in U.S. News & World Report.
Downtown St. Louis's Soldiers Memorial was the site of the recent ceremony. The honorees were Glenn Harrison, 98, from O'Fallon; Eugene Harmack, a Kirkwood resident who is also 98 years old; and Alfred Villagran, 95, from Chesterfield. Organizers of such events can use banner printing to create appropriate decorations.
The awards were presented by the Consul General of France for the Midwest, Guillaume Lacroix, who spoke to approximately 200 relatives and friends who were in attendance. Consul Lacroix said that without the help of Americans like the three honorees, the flag of France “would not be flying here today.”
Harrison was the pilot of a B-17 bomber, and was twice shot down. After the second occasion, he and the other survivors were prisoners of war from June 1944 until January 1945.
Harmack was a communications operator, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, which was fought in sub-zero temperatures.
Villagran, like Harrison, was in a B17 bomber crew, as a gunner and radio operator. Five of his crewmates lost their lives in the attack, and Villagran said he accepted the medal as much for them as for himself.
