Seven WWII Veterans to Receive French Legion of Honor [fr]
The French consul general will present the Legion of Honor, France’s highest recognition of military service, to seven WWII veterans during a ceremony at the Georgia Capitol building later this month.
Founded by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, the National Order of the Legion of Honor recognizes eminent services to the French Republic. Foreign nationals who have served France or the ideals it upholds may receive the distinction. Recipients are designated by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Consul General Louis de Corail will present the award to U.S. veterans Donald Seesenguth, Alvin Werbalowsky, Salvatore Pipitone, Bernard Parker and Joseph Benator during the ceremony on September 25.
Tim Estes, the son of the late Bruce Estees, and Mary Beth Irrgang, the daughter of the late Edward Mercker, will accept the medal on behalf of their parents.
The recipients are from the states of Georgia and Tennessee in the southeast United States.
Some of America’s best known recipients of the Legion of Honor are generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur, Admiral Michael Mullen and even, as an institution, the United States Military Academy at West Point.