Dad receives Chevalier Legion of Honor from France

[AJB]

Several of you met my dad at Rally I in Detroit on Woodward Avenue. Dad and I and Margaret just returned from Washington DC & the French Embassy last week. Dad flew the B-24 Liberator Bombers (made at the Ford Motor Co. Willow Run Plant) in WWII. His bombing missions were from Southern Italy into Germany, Romania (Ploesti) and France and elsewhere.

The Country of France awarded him the Chevalier Legion of Honor Award on June 17th for helping to liberate France in WWII. It was quite a nice ceremony and we were all very proud.
(His crew crash landed 3 of the B-24's but luckily Ford Plant continued to produce a robust supply :):)

I wanted to share this info with all my FGTForum Friends.
AJB (andy)

[HHGT]

Congrats and please thank him for his service on our behalf.

[GTdrummer]

Wow. What a great story. You must be proud. Thank him for me as well.

[MNJason]

Amazing!

[jaxgt]

My hat is off to your dad. A great story. Thank you

[Kingman]

Thank you for sharing...and congrats and a big Thank You to your father!

[PL510*Jeff]

:usa God Bless America!

Andy, please let your father know how thankful we are for his service in WWII.

[donnymac]

What an honor to be a member of the Greatest Generation. Cherish your time.

[red gt 1442]

Congrats Andy.....He sure made all of us proud........Great deserving award............



Gino

[FENZO]

Those guys can't be thanked enough, so much sacrificed. Good for him, and your family. :thumbsup

[JAYGT]

:usa AWESOME

[ChipBeck]

.....His crew crash landed 3 of the B-24's but luckily the Ford Plant continued to produce a robust supply... ....AJB (Andy)

Andy,

If your dad had crashed two more, he would have been a German ACE !! Jokes aside, I wish I had met him during Rally I. I'm sure he's got many great stories, you are lucky to still have him with you. Cheers to your dad.

Chip

[Matech GT1]

Great achievement. Good to be recognised for service.
Steve

[MK2_GT]

Amazing and congratulations !

[cobrajeff]

Congratulations to your Dad, Andy. What a great honor. Thank him for his service to our country.

Jeff

[Cobrar]

Had the opportunity to meet him, great guy. Thank you for your service to the USA.

Congratulations - Andy and dad!

[Midnite Blu]

Andy, you, Margaret and Megan are blessed in that you have had the joy of seeing your Dad honored in such a special way while he still enjoys mother earth. His contribution to all our well being is beyond comprehension. Life is good......GO BLU

[twobjshelbys]

Bless them. The world would not be the same were it not for them.

I'm in the process of scanning all of my pictures. Every last negative and slide. Some where in the neighborhood of 20000 frames.

I was talking about it the other night with a guy from town here. He's a retired school teacher (coach). "I've got a boat load of slides from Korea". "Bring them and I'll scan them". He said he was there ins 1953 and then back on a USO tour in 1958. The first two boxes I pulled were from 58. The base looks just like M*A*S*H. How fortunate that these are Kodachrome slides. They are extremely well preserved. These pictures are more than memories, they are history.

[Triheart7]

Andy, that is a great story. Thanks to your Dad and what his generation did!!!

[AJB]

Thanks to all of you for the very nice comments. I plan to print out this complete 'thread' and give a copy to my dad for his records next week.

Chip....I am glad there was not a "number four (4 ) crash"...it may have precluded my existence.
Hope to see many of you in Salt Lake City Rally VI.
andy (AJB)