Consul General Valéry Freland Honors WWII Veterans [fr]

On March 10, Valéry Freland, Consul General of France in Boston, awarded the French Legion of Honor (L’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur) to three American veterans who served in France during World War II.

Were honored:

• Private First Class James Baker, who joined the U.S. Army in 1942, and participated in the Southern France campaign.
• Private First Class Leo Defilippo, who joined the U.S Army in 1941, and participated in the Northern France campaign.
• Sergeant Michael Maglio, who joined the U.S. Army in 1942, and participated in the Battle of Normandy and the Northern France campaign.

The solemn and very moving ceremony took place at the Chelsea Soldiers Home, where the three veterans’ friends and family had gathered. Francisco Urena, secretary of the state Department of Veteran Services, was also in attendance.

The ceremony received wide local media attention:

• Here you will find an article published on March 11, 2016 in the Metro section of the Boston Globe.
• Here the WCVB-TV5 article published on March 10, 2016 and the full video report.

Speech delivered by the Consul General:

(PDF - 94.1 kb)

You will find all the pictures of the event on the Consulate’s Flickr.