Two World War I Vets to Receive Legion of Honor

Two World War I veterans, one of them from the Valley, will receive France’s highest honor--the Legion of Honor medal--on Wednesday at the French consul general’s home in Beverly Hills.

Albert Willard, 101, of Sherman Oaks, and Fred Roberts, 102, of Temple City, will receive the National Order of the Legion of Honor medal, said Yo-Jung Chen, vice consul at the French Consulate in Westwood. The men are being recognized for their service in France during World War I and to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of that war.

Nationwide, about 3,200 American World War I veterans are still living. Many of the veterans are approaching 100, said Robert Johnson, a retired Air Force Lt. Col. and an honorary member of the Veterans of World War I of the USA. Johnson, 53, who lives near Hawthorne, has helped the French government locate veterans.

“We have to hurry to make [the medals] available to everyone,” Chen said.

So far this year, 27 Americans are receiving the Legion of Honor recognition for their World War I service, Johnson said.

Willard joined the war effort in 1918, serving in an Army engineering unit that blew up bridges.

“I think it’s wonderful,” said Willard’s stepdaughter Sylvia Long, of Sherman Oaks. “When you’re 101, there are not too many things that excite you anymore . . . [Willard] was real happy.”

Long, 58, said after her stepfather learned of the honor he said, “I didn’t even fight that many battles in France.”