In Santa Ana, French Honor 2 WWI Vets

Before the GIs in the Battle of the Bulge, before Korea, before the Tet offensive in Vietnam and way before Desert Storm, there were the doughboys of the Great War, the war to end all wars.

Few veterans of World War I--those who fought in France--are still alive. And the French government is in a race with time to find them before they die, to award them the National Order of the Legion of Honor, the highest honor it can bestow on military allies, because it cannot be awarded posthumously.

On Monday in Santa Ana, France honored two of those men who helped defeat the German enemy 81 years ago. And the men, both in wheelchairs, one stricken with pneumonia, were overcome with emotion.

Peter Kireacos--age 103--couldn’t be stopped from attending, said grandson Charles Prinzen. The old warrior had been in the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Long Beach, and his doctor advised against going to the event. Kireacos had to sign himself out, Prinzen said.

Fighting pneumonia, Kireacos was helped to his feet to receive the medal, which was pinned over his heart by Guy Yelda, the French consul general in Los Angeles.

Harold Adams, 100, who lives in the Leisure World retirement community in Laguna Hills, remained seated as he received his medal. Yelda thanked each man privately for his service to France.

Members of French War Veterans, wearing their group’s caps, saluted Kireacos and Adams and lined up to shake each man’s hand.

“It’s impressive to me that Americans have twice come to the aid of our country. If it wasn’t for the American soldiers, World War I and World War II would’ve lasted much longer, and who knows how much more France would’ve suffered,” said Claude Innocenti, 61, now of Brentwood.

“America lost a lot of soldiers in both wars, and [Monday’s ceremony] is a way to say thank you to your soldiers,” he said.

Poison-Gas, Shrapnel Injuries

The brief ceremony brought out smiles, tears and painful memories.

“I’m proud of you,” Kathleen Adams, 98, said to her husband as she leaned over and kissed him.

Harold Adams brushed a tear from his face and said, “I never expected anything like this in my life.”

What no one in his family knew until recently was that he had suffered a shrapnel wound to a leg.

“Harold gets very emotional when he tries to talk about the war,” his wife said. “I didn’t even know he had been wounded until this happened. I think it’s wonderful what the French government has done for our soldiers. It’s a great honor to them.”

Kireacos, a Long Beach resident who once worked as maitre d’ at the Brown Derby restaurant in Hollywood, lost most of his voice as a result of a chlorine gas attack in the war. But he managed to say: “I appreciate it very much.”

At the ceremony by the Orange County Veterans War Memorial, Yelda expressed the French government’s gratitude to the American men and women who served in France.

“The French have not forgotten the bravery of those young men. . . . They made a decisive contribution to victory,” Yelda said. “To the veterans of the Great War, France remembers and says thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

Last year, French President Jacques Chirac announced that his country would commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I on Nov. 11, 1918, by honoring surviving American veterans who served in France with the award.

Seeking Out the Rest

U.S. Veterans Affairs officials estimate that about 1,500 American World War I veterans are still alive and eligible for the award, but only 300 have applied. Since November, the French have held 23 ceremonies in California, most of them honoring individual veterans.

Robert Johnson, a retired Air Force colonel and honorary member of the Veterans of World War I, said 30 veterans in California have applied for the medal. He estimated that 100 are eligible.

“Because the award is not given posthumously, we’re in a race against time,” he said. “We’re working very closely with the French government to track them down. World War I vets are the most senior American vets alive today.”

Kireacos served with the 115th Engineer Regiment of the 40th Division. He enlisted in St. Louis in October 1917 and served until 1920.

Adams, an avid gardener until recently, also was an engineer, in the 42nd Division. He enlisted in 1916 and served until 1919.

“We repaired roads, built bridges and put up barbed wire,” Adams said. “Engineers were also kept in reserve as infantry troops. We were called up to the line once, and that was enough for me.”

Adams, who has a son, a daughter, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, has never talked about the war with his family.

Kireacos’ family spans six generations. His wife, Ruth, died in 1974, and his two daughters also have died. He has three grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, 12 great-great-grandchildren and three great-great-great-grandchildren.

“My grandfather has expressed sadness that those killed in the war are not able to get this honor,” said Ed Fensler, a Kireacos grandson.

Optimists called World War I the war to end all wars. But Adams lamented that nations still have not learned to settle disputes peacefully.

“We hoped it would be the last war. But our nation has been in three major wars since then and other smaller ones. It seems like, 81 years later, the world is still in the same place it was when the Great War ended.”