Bonners Ferry native feted for WWII service
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| Photo by MICHAEL SULLIVAN The News-Review |
| Deputy French Consulate Corrine Pereira presents Jim Stone of Riddle with the French Legion of Honor at Roseburg VFW Post 2468 Friday. |
The News-Review
Nearly seven decades after France was liberated from the occupying Germans during World War II, the French people have not forgotten the sacrifice by soldiers from the United States and other allied nations.
On Friday, the French government thanked Riddle resident Jim Stone, 87, for his efforts in winning the European nation back its freedom by awarding him the French Legion of Honor. Created by Napoleon in 1802, the Legion of Honor is France's highest honor. With the pinning, Stone was declared a “chevalier,” or knight of the Legion.
Before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 100 people, French Deputy Consul Corinne Pereira pinned the gold-and-white medal with a red ribbon on the U.S. Air Force uniform Stone wore to the ceremony, held at Post 2468 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Roseburg. While Stone served with the U.S. Army during World War II, he later enlisted in the Air Force and spent 18 years in that branch, until retiring in 1966 at the rank of chief master sergeant.
“As young men, you and your comrades left your country, your families and friends to risk your lives in defense of our common values — freedom, rights and democracy,” said Pereira, who traveled from the French consulate in San Francisco for the ceremony. “You can be sure the people that you didn't even know have not forgotten. We will never forget.”
Stone grew up in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, a small town near the Canadian border. He was drafted into the Army in 1943, when he was 19 and was shipped to Europe with the 75th Infantry Division. He fought in Normandy and at the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes region, as well as other locations in Northern France, Germany and Central Europe. He served under the commands of famed Gens. George S. Patton and Omar Bradley.
Stone, who said he doesn't look at himself as a hero, only as a soldier doing the job he was called to do, said he often thinks about his fellow soldiers who didn't return home.
“Those were the real heroes,” he said.
Others believe Stone fits the bill, as well. Jim Fitzpatrick, VFW Post 2468's adjutant, read letters praising Stone from Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and Rep. Peter DeFazio. Wyden sent Stone a U.S. flag that had flown over the nation's capitol in Washington, D.C.
Jim Willis, a Roseburg native who serves as director of the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs, noted that 16 million men and women served the nation during World War II, with 400,000 giving their lives. Today, 30,000 World War II veterans are left in Oregon, with their numbers dwindling every day.
“They are a national treasure and one of them is sitting here,” Willis said.
George Insley of Green, who was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 2009, attended the ceremony and congratulated Stone. Insley, 89, piloted B-24 bombers during 53 bombing missions, twice as many as most pilots.
“It's fitting that Stone received this recognition,” Insley said.
Jason Carroll, the VFW's judge advocate from Molalla, called Stone a “real American hero.” Bill Duckett, Riddle's mayor, also praised Stone in comments after the ceremony.
“He's really deserving of this honor,” Duckett said.
Other dignitaries who attended the ceremony were Douglas County Commissioners Joe Laurance and Susan Morgan, Sheriff John Hanlin and state Rep. Tim Freeman.
Stone's daugher, Diana Stone-Poore from Federal Way, Wash., smiled as she watched Pereira pin the medal on her father's chest.
“It's really a nice honor for my dad,” she said.
You can reach reporter John Sowell at 541-957-4209 or by email at jsowell@nrtoday.com.