GROVETOWN, Ga. (WJBF) – A seven-term Grovetown mayor can add another title after receiving one of the world’s highest honors.
“Bombings we had and the scraffings we had, I still remember them pretty darn good. But a lot of things are fading away,” said Dennis Trudeau.
Memories may fade but the love and respect many have for 94-year-old, World War II veteran Dennis Trudeau is not going anywhere.
He said, “This is something I’ll never forget.”
Trudeau has worn many hats over the years and now he is a knight. The former Canadian Army paratrooper was awarded Friday in Grovetown the French Legion of Honour.
“You have to earn eminent merit with the Frech to earn this medal so that’s the case of this Georgia veteran,” said Consul General of France Vincent Hommeril.
The Legion of Honour is France’s highest award for civil and military accomplishments.
Trudeau recalled, “Matter of fact I was in France about a year ago. Went over to go back to the fields we were at, back in Normandy. Had a good visit back there.”
During Trudeau’s time in uniform, he fought in the Battle of Normandy during D-Day and was taken by the enemy as a prisoner of war.
Hommeril is a Normandy native and says people like Trudeau hold a special place in his and his country’s heart.
He explained, “When I give these medals to those veterans who fought 70 years ago, more than 70 years ago for the freedom of our country and we are most thankful to them.”
“It’s a great honor that’s for sure. It’s something that they’re doing that I really don’t deserve. It’s the people that are there in the ground buried in France, those are the ones that need this. Not me,” added Truedeau.
The crowd’s response to Trudeau’s humbleness at the award ceremony was, “Yes, you do!”
