SPRINGFIELD, Va. — A World War II Army veteran received a Bronze Star on Saturday — 56 years after he parachuted into France on D-Day.
Francis Lamoureux, 81, was among the members of the Army's elite 82nd Airborne Pathfinder Team that flew into France on June 6, 1944, 30 minutes before the main airborne invasion and five hours before the Normandy landings.
The unit's objective was to mark a "drop zone" with lights and radar-guidance equipment so the main force would know where to land.
"The night of June the 5th, 1944, the Pathfinder Team took off in a plane from England," Lamoureux said. "Our mission was to get on the ground and give the signal. But when we were in that plane, we encountered anti-aircraft fire — things were exploding all around us, and we had to jump. We just wanted to get out of there as fast as we could."
All his fellow Pathfinders received Bronze Stars for bravery during the mission. But Lamoureux missed the ceremony.
Lamoureux, of Ludlow, Mass., received the award at a book signing to promote Patrick O'Donnell's "Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat." The book includes Lamoureux's account of his wartime experiences.
O'Donnell said he requested Lamoureux's Bronze Star from Gen. Hugh Shelton, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Lamoureux "never asked for us to do anything," O'Donnell said. "He just mentioned that he had not received his medal."