WWII actions earn French Legion of Honor medal for North Las Vegas man

LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

9 years ago

Barbara Lynn Henderson, left, speaks with World War II veteran Tech. Sgt. Elmer J. Hess, 98, who was presented with a French Legion of Honor medal on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Las Vegas. Hess, who also earned a Purple Heart, was part of the third wave at Utah Beach in Normandy, France. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

World War II veteran Tech. Sgt. Elmer J. Hess, 98, wears the French Legion of Honor medal he was presented with on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Las Vegas. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

People greet World War II veteran Tech. Sgt. Elmer J. Hess, 98, before he receives the French Legion of Honor medal at Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah Visitor Center in LAs Vegas on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Las Vegas. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

World War II veteran Tech. Sgt. Elmer J. Hess, 98, is shown before receiving the French Legion of Honor medal at Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah Visitor Center in LAs Vegas on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Las Vegas. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Honorary Consul for Southern Nevada Eric Auger, left, presents World War II veteran Tech. Sgt. Elmer J. Hess, 98, with the French Legion of Honor medal at Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah Visitor Center in LAs Vegas on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Las Vegas. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

The box holding a Purple Heart belonging to World War II veteran Tech. Sgt. Elmer J. Hess, 98, is shown before he receives the French Legion of Honor medal at Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah Visitor Center in LAs Vegas on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Las Vegas. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Honorary Consul for Southern Nevada Eric Auger, right, presents World War II veteran Tech. Sgt. Elmer J. Hess, 98, with the French Legion of Honor medal at Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah Visitor Center in LAs Vegas on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Las Vegas. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

World War II veteran Tech. Sgt. Elmer J. Hess, 98, is shown after receiving the French Legion of Honor medal at Wayne Newton’s Casa de Shenandoah Visitor Center in LAs Vegas on Wednesday, April 20, 2016 in Las Vegas. Chase Stevens/Las Vegas Review-Journal Follow @csstevensphoto

Ninety-eight-year-old Elmer J. Hess, of North Las Vegas, received France’s Legion of Honor medal Wednesday night during a ceremony in Las Vegas. Hess, a World War II Army tech sergeant from Monmouth, Illinois, was in the third wave to invade France’s Nazi-occupied Normandy coast at Utah Beach.

He endured a rocket attack for which he received a Purple Heart medal, and went on to survive other encounters before marching through the snow with Lt. Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army to relieve 101st Airborne troops surrounded at Bastogne, Belgium, in late-December 1944.

The Legion of Honor in the rank of Chevalier (Knight) is the highest honor France bestows on foreign nationals for gallant actions in France against the enemy.

Keith Rogers Las Vegas Review-Journal