Fred Roberts, 105; WWI Vet Cited by France

Fred Roberts, a veteran of World War I who was one of the first doughboys awarded the Legion of Honor in a special French program marking the 80th anniversary of the 1918 armistice, died Monday at a nursing home in Temple City. He was 105.

Born in Boone County, Ark., Roberts spent much of his youth in Gooding, Idaho, where he worked in the family laundry business. With the U.S. entry into World War I in 1917, he enlisted in the Army and served with Company D, 151st Machine Gun Battalion, of the 42nd Rainbow Division.

Roberts recalled that when he was crossing the English Channel, the vessel that carried the mules to transport his unit’s machine guns was sunk by enemy U-boats while his troopship escaped unscathed.

Roberts saw action in France and was wounded when his unit was struck by an enemy artillery barrage of high explosives and mustard gas while advancing from the Champagne front into the Belleau Woods. Evacuated to a hospital in Paris, Roberts was treated for mustard gas inhalation and shell shock. His family, however, was notified by telegram that he was missing in action. The Army later determined that he was in the hospital.

After his recovery, he spent the remainder of his tour of duty as a security guard at a prisoner of war camp near Kripp, Germany.

He was discharged in 1919 and returned to Idaho, where he first found employment in a railroad yard and later worked for many years in the security department of the U.S. Civil Service Commission.

In 1994, he moved to Temple City to live with his daughter.

Due to a foul-up in paperwork, Roberts’ name was not submitted for the Purple Heart at the time of his service. He received the honor in March 1995 at a ceremony in Los Alamitos.

On Nov. 11, 1998, Roberts, then 102, and Albert Willard, 101, were summoned to the home of the French consul general in Los Angeles and awarded the Legion of Honor. They were among 27 Americans across the country honored that day. More than 650 were similarly honored in subsequent months, and the search continues for doughboys still living and eligible for the honor.

Willard died in October 1999.

Roberts had clear memories of his wartime experiences and vividly recalled the artillery attack. But overall he chose a positive view of his experience there.

“I enjoyed some good times in France,” Roberts said years later. “They were very kind and nice people.”

Survivors include his four children, Barbara Pettit, Gordon Roberts, Beverly Byers and Rita Fratis; 11 grandchildren; 26 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 6 p.m. Monday at Temple City Funeral Home, with burial services at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Riverside National Cemetery.