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France honors 5 Southern California veterans with Legion of Honor for WWII service

Daily News - 12/21/2016

Dec. 21--VALLEY VILLAGE -- When Army Pfc. Herbert Moore crossed from France into Nazi Germany across the Rhine River during World War II, the Germans had a gift for him on his 21st birthday.

The full force of the Third Reich.

"I wondered whether I'd live any longer," said Moore, 92, of Sherman Oaks, recalling the harrowing moment fighting with Gen. Patton's 3rd Army. "The bombardment was going on ... there were a lot of bullets and a lot of shells.

"I was lucky."

Moore was among five veterans from the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys on Tuesday to be awarded France's Legion d'Honneur, the country's highest honor, for their valor in helping liberate France.

The consul general of France pinned the National Order of the Legion of Honor Chevalier, as the decoration is formally known, on the lapels of five aging war heroes during a solemn ceremony at Temple Adat Ari El in Valley Village.

They were among thousands of surviving World War II veterans now being honored by France for fighting to free Europe from the German stranglehold starting with D-Day in June 1944.

--PHOTOS:

"This is a very special day," said Christophe Lemoine , the French consul general based in Los Angeles. "I'm here to express the gratitude of the people of France to all American and Allied veterans of the Second World War. And particularly, today, to five exceptional men.

"As young men, they left their homes to finally liberate not only France, but the whole European continent. And through this, they defended democracy and human rights."

The exceptional men included Moore, a finance clerk typist deployed with the 280th Engineer Combat Battalion who saw action in France, Belgium and Luxembourg.

They included Army Col. Nathan D. Jaffe , 99, of Valley Village, who served in the 926th Engineering Construction Regiment and helped rebuild the heavily damaged French port of Le Havre to support Allied landings. After the war, he commanded a construction battalion in France and served decades in the Army Reserves.

Army Staff Sgt. Miles H. Indermill , of North Hills served as a machine gunner in the 10th Infantry Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division in major campaigns across France and Germany, including the bitterly contested Colmar Pocket, before he was wounded in 1945.

Army Pfc. J.C. Ashley , 96, of Bradbury in the San Gabriel Valley, served as an anti-tank crewman with the 10th Infantry Regiment of the 5th Infantry Division under Patton. He said he saw fierce fighting in three major battles across five European countries in 16 months of war.

Army Pfc. William R. Fuller , of Sylmar, served as an anti-tank crewman with the 318th Infantry Regiment of the 78th Division and saw heavy combat in the Ardennes and Rhineland campaigns before he too was wounded in 1945.

After the war, they had served their communities and their nation. They had fathered children who begat children who bore them great- and great-great-grandchildren.

More than 50 wives, children, descendents, friends and veterans supporters watched each nonagenarian sit or stand stiffly in their service caps during the French and American national anthems -- testament to 250 years of Franco-American friendship.

They watched as each accepted the Legion d'Honneur, a white enamel Maltese cross over a green bed of laurel and oak, created in 1802 by Napoleon as the first modern order of merit. The awards were facilitated by Air Force Lt. Col. (ret) Robert Johnson .

They watched as they each received a service medal from the Los Angeles Department of Military and Veteran Affairs.

To honor these men was to look to our future, said Rabbi Jonathan Bernhard , senior rabbi of Temple Adat Ari El. For their heroic deeds, he said, have ensured our future.

"These men were called to service," Bernhard said in prayer. "And they responded to that call. And in doing so, they risked it all. They saw what no one should have to see. They heard what no one should have to hear. They witnessed the darkest side of what it is to be human.

"And they did so with honor. With dignity. And with a sense of purpose. Help us honor them -- not just today, but every day that we go forward."

Afterward, each man was honored by a buffet lunch.

"I appreciate it," said Ashley of his medal hanging from a crimson silk ribbon. He sat Marjorie, his wife of 77 years, with whom he had two children before heading off to war. "I did it with a lot of other fellas -- a lot of men who didn't come back."

"It's quite an honor, quite emotional, 71 years later," said Moore, whose synagogue volunteered to host the event. "It brings back many thoughts and feelings. People who are no longer here. Good buddies, good times, bad times."

Susie Katz had recently missed one friend's military award ceremony. She vowed she wasn't going to miss another, she said. So she rushed uninvited from her home in Encino to honor Moore and the heroes from the Greatest Generation.

"It was so moving," said Katz, 78. "Because these men sacrificed so much for our country -- and France. And they don't get enough recognition."

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