A 98-year-old World War II veteran from Georgia was honored by France on Friday for his role in liberating the French people from Nazi occupation.
Louis Graziano, who saw action on D-Day and during the Battle of the Bulge, was awarded the French Legion of Honor in his hometown of Thomson, Georgia, by Vincent Hommeril, consul general of France in Atlanta.
“France is what it is today, a free and sovereign country, thanks to the bravery of such veterans and thanks to America,” Hommeril said. “You are a true hero. Your example is an inspiration for the future, and your legacy provides a moral compass for generations to come.”
OLDEST WWII VETERAN IN US CELEBRATES 112TH BIRTHDAY
The award, a medallion of the French republic suspended from a red ribbon, was first conceived by Napoleon Bonaparte and is the country’s highest award for foreign and domestic service members.
“It was great. I appreciate everything they have done,” Graziano said, following a standing ovation, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Graziano is the son of Italian immigrants from Sicily and served in the European theater of World War II.
In a video posted to YouTube, he recalled the moment when he landed in the third wave at Omaha Beach on D-Day.
“I drove a gasoline truck … onto the beach, and I jumped out of it real quick and got my guns and flamethrower,” Graziano said. He said he “laid down on the ground of the beach there with the dead soldiers.”
Graziano used his flamethrower to take out a machine gun firing on his fellow soldiers, WSB-TV reported. Months later, he almost lost his feet to frostbite in the Battle of the Bulge.
Later in the war, Graziano, a master sergeant in the Army, helped rebuild the little red schoolhouse in Reims, Germany, where the German Army surrendered to Allied forces in 1945.
He is believed to be the last living witness of the surrender, the French Consulate said.
After the war, Graziano lived in Georgia with his wife, Bobbie. The two were married for 62 years until her death in 2007.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
At 98, Graziano still cuts hair in the salon he built with his own hands decades ago.
