Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Home › News › Local News

France honors WWII hero

Fort Collins man gets highest award: Legion of Honor

John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News

Published June 28, 2007 at midnight

Text size  

More Local News

More stories »

FORT COLLINS - World War II veteran Bill Gordon leaned forward on his two canes Wednesday night so the French Legion of Honor medal, that nation's highest military honor, could be pinned to his lapel.

Then after looking around the room at 45 friends and colleagues who had gathered to honor him, he spoke of the people who were not present: the men of B Company who fought and died more than half a century ago to liberate France from the Nazis.

There were 142 men in B Company of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment when Gordon, a 24- year-old replacement platoon leader, began leading them through the Battle of the Bulge.

By the time he was sent to a stateside hospital after being shot twice, 14 men were left from the original unit.

"I know it's my honor, and I appreciate this great honor," Gordon, 85, a former Army colonel, told the audience at Nico's Catacombs restaurant, choking up a bit. "But I think I need to accept this on behalf of those men."

Phillipe Larrieu, the Los Angeles-based Consul General of France, pinned the bright red ribbon and green-flecked medal on Gordon after expressing his country's gratitude.

The ceremony was part of a program aimed at recognizing the anniversary of the landing of allied forces at Normandy in June 1944 by honoring about 100 U.S. veterans with distinguished records.

"France has not forgotten the American heroes of World War II," Larrieu said. "Col. Gordon, you embody the best of America, and on behalf of France and my fellow citizens, I would like to say, 'Thank you.' "

A New York City native, Gordon attended UCLA, where he played on the first team from the university to compete in the Rose Bowl.

In 1943, he joined ROTC and began what would become a 30-year career with the Army, with service in Korea, Vietnam and Panama.

After retiring from the military, Gordon and his family moved to Fort Collins in 1979, where he served as director of the county's emergency services system for five years and then as county administrator for seven.

After the ceremony, Gordon recalled how his unit had gone for two months without a bath, a bed, a shave or a change of clothes when a general pulled alongside them and asked what unit they belong to. After Gordon snapped off the name of the company, the general replied, "Well, you don't look like paratroopers."

When they arrived at their destination, the company received orders to go to a monastery, where hot tubs and soap awaited them.

The general's name was Patton, Gordon said. Apparently, he thought the company had earned a rest.

Gordon said he has been pained by the strained relations between the two historic allies over U.S. policy in Iraq, he said.

"It's a great honor," he said of the medal. "But more than an honor, it's a reaffirmation of our great friendship."

or 303-954-5291