The French Honor Local Veterans

An emotional response could be spotted by family, friends and veterans during a short ceremony where three local heroes received one of the highest and most known awards given in France. The local WWII veterans sat at the front of the room while an audience filled the room to see the three become recipients – Lloyd Eide, Gordon Olson and Kenneth Newton – of the French Knight Legion of Honor Award.

Laurence Markarian, the honorary consul of France for the state of Montana gave the awards after a short biography and history of each veteran. She later explained in an interview that giving the honor was something she personally found important and that this particular duty called to her. She explained that her mother lived in Paris as the Germans took over half the city and the family suffered during the time of war. Her mother was just a child, but raised her to understand what was given up for their freedom.

"It is unimaginable how much courage and bravery it took to fight," Markarian said during the ceremony. "You did your duty... France will never forget."

Service Officer for the Glasgow VFW Billy Sugg started the project when he was the previous post commander. He explained that he started the process in 2011 and handed the information and a list of veterans to Markarian. Markarian explained that the process took so long because each "case" had to be investigated and the veterans had to meet certain criteria, including participating in certain core campaigns that freed France from the Germans.

"The was a last chance mission to honor them, it wasn't mandatory but it was important to others and important to the French president," Markarian said.

The awards came in a year where the battle in Normandy, also known as D-Day, widely was reflected upon on its 70th anniversary in June. She explained that once the criteria was met the paperwork had to go to San Francisco where General Consul is, from there it had to go to the embassy in Washington, D.C., and from there it had to travel to Paris. She said that dealing with bureaucracy slowed the process, and it is something she wishes she could speed up as some veterans are passing away before they can be honored.

She collected documentation and biographies of WWII veterans to help prove they met the criteria. The Legion of Honor Award was given to five other veterans in Hamilton last year, and two more awards will be given in Hamilton on Veteran's Day this year.

Biographies and more information about the honored WWII veterans will be featuredin the Veterans Day edition of The Glasgow Courier on Nov. 12.