Charles Lawson has earned a number of military laurels: a distinguished unit badge, an American Defense Medal, a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart. But the Forrest City resident admits he never thought he’d receive a decoration wrought by Napoleon Bonaparte.
For the World War II vet and newly crowned knight within France’s Legion of Honor, the designation received Thursday in Little Rock meant more than the rest.
“I spilled quite a lot ofblood in France,” said the 94-year-old former soldier, who remembers being the first fighting man at Omaha Beach on D-Day: June 6, 1944.
Thousands died that day.
Gov. Mike Beebe and a representative of the French Consulate met at the state Capitol Thursday to admit three World War II veterans living in Arkansas to France’s highest order. The medals were presented to Lawson, Harlow Conrad and Daniel Towery as a gesture of gratitude from the French government - the honor arisingfrom the soldiers’ efforts to liberate the German-occupied state at the height of the war. France’s honorary consul at the presentation, Beatrice Moore, lauded the veterans for their willingness “to defend on French soil the values of freedom and democracy we share.”
“You have demonstrated virtue, bravery and stern commitment to a noble cause,” Moore said. “France will never forget what you did for us.”
Nearly 75,000 worldwide have achieved knighthood within the Legion, an order Beebe praised for its “proud history in France” on Thursday. Bonaparte established the group in 1802 to honor the achievements of civilians and military members, and as a replacement for the grandiose designations of the old crown. Moore said the French government began issuing the medals to living AmericanWorld War II vets in 2008 and has awarded them in all 50 states.
Eligible veterans have fought in one of the main campaigns for France’s liberation and received an honorable discharge. A Legion of Honor committee in France reviews the candidate’s documentation to determine whether one of the medals will be awarded. The medal features a five-sided white cross mounted onto a green wreath, with a profile of Marianne - France’s equivalent of Lady Liberty - etched into the gold-plated center.
On Thursday, Moore recalled growing up near Omaha Beach in postwar France, with an entire generation still healing from the trauma of war.
“We need to forget the past,’” she recalled her classmates saying. “The people in France, they don’t want to show it, but they know what happened was really important.
“I’m really honored to be able to say thank you on behalf of my country.”
Seated next to each other in the Governor’s Conference Room, the soldiers expressed thanks to the consul beforesharing some of their own stories.
Lawson, a one-time staff sergeant and platoon leader in the U.S. Army, spent a year bedridden in the United States after suffering woundsduring the Battle of the Bulge on Christmas, 1944. He served three separate tours in France, and undertook combat missions in North Africa and Italy. France, and especially Paris, he said, still held a special place in his heart.
“It was a fine place, fine city,” he said Thursday.
Towery, a 92-year-old resident of Edgemont, served as an instructor in gunner combat training for aerial engineers. The Army Air Corps member flew seven missions out of England before moving on to France in 1944.
“I remember the nice people,” he said Thursday. “I remember the devastation that they went through.”
Conrad, an 88-year-old resident of Bella Vista, served in the Rhineland, Central Europe and the Ardennes region. Sitting in middle, the youngest member of the bunch portrayed the award asa crowning achievement.
“It’s an honor, the idea that the French government appreciated some of us living veterans,” he said. “I guess it rounds out any type of recognition we’ve received.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/21/2013