HISTORY/    Created in May 1802 by First Consul of the First French Republic OVERVIEW  Napoleon Bonaparte to recognize exceptional merit or bravery, the LoH has 5 degrees.  Award is made without regard to nationality; only condition is that recipient swears to uphold liberty and equality.  Prominent American Chevaliers (Knights, the largest category) include Jerry Lewis (1984), wine critic Robert Parker (1989), the late Julia Child (2000), musician Quincy Jones (2001), Clint Eastwood (2007), Colin Powell, and Robert DeNiro.  Eligibility for LoH includes SURVIVING American service members who took part in the Invasions at Normandy or Provence or fought in the liberation of France.  WW II Veterans MUST APPLY to receive the Legion of Honor.  Applications take 4-5 months for the French to process.   APPLY By:     LETTER.    You’ll Need:1. A VERY LEGIBLE signed or authenticated copy of your Discharge Form or Discharge Certificate that shows your Branch of Service, the dates you served, and certifies that you received an HONORABLE Discharge.  Form DD 214 has been used for discharge of US Service members since at least the  early 1960’s.  If you don’t have a Form DD 214, don’t despair.  That card-sized “Certificate of Satisfactory Service” or another document found among your discharge papers can be used, as long as it shows your service branch, dates served, certifies your HONORABLE discharge and is a LEGIBLE copy.  2. A notarized or authenticated and VERY LEGIBLE summary of your servicethat establishes that your ship or unit took part in the Normandy Invasio or the Invasion of Southern France (Provence) or fought Germans elsewhere in France.  The summary has to verify that you [Name and your ID number at the time] took part in the action.  Again, if you submitted a DD 214 to satisfy the information requirement of 1. above, you’re fine.   Otherwise, you’ll need to produce LEGIBLE copies of administrative entries – and the names of the commands that issued the associated orders – that establish that YOU were in combat in France against the Germans. (I once saw a successful Application that needed 6 separate validated administrative entries to establish that a specific US Navy destroyer was employed to batter German defenses at OMAHA Beach and that Seaman B. was aboard the ship during that action.)  Medical record entries that support eligibility can also be submitted.  Mail To*:      The French Consulate nearest your home: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York, San Francisco, Washington DC. *You’ll need to call the nearest Consulate for its address; PHONE #S ARE listed below.   Eligible:        SURVIVING American WW II Vets who fought in the Liberation of France. SAMPLE Letter         REQUEST FOR AWARD OF FRENCH LEGION of HONOR   This letter may be used by WW II Veterans of the US Navy, Coast Guard, Army, Army Air Corps, and Air Force – and Reserve Components of these Services - who fought (1) in France (2) to liberate that country from the Germans.   Your Name Goes Here Your Street Address Your City, State and Zip Code Your Telephone #; email address (if you use email)                                                                                                                    Date Your Letter Consul General Consulate of France You’ll get the address of the French                                                 (You may want to send your                                                      Consulate nearest your home by calling                                             letter with a Signature Card/ this **NUMBER in this city nearest your home                                 Return Receipt attached.)   Request for Award of Legion of Honor   Dear Sir:   I respectfully request that I be awarded the Legion of Honor for my service as a member of the US [name your branch of service or its Reserved component] engaged in the fight in France to defeat the Germans during the period of day/month                                 to                       day/month, 1944.   During that period I was attached to [Ship OR Name of unit].      The following documents support this request:    ·         DD 214 (if Form DD 214 was NOT yet in use when you were discharged, name the form that you are submitting that establishes your branch of service and dates of service and states that your discharge was HONORABLE or that your service was Satisfactory) bearing my name,  (state your name as given previously)               . ·         [If you have no DD 214] Official correspondence with enclosures establishing that I served as a member of [Ship OR Name of Unit] engaged in the fight to liberate France during the period day/month                        to                day/month                    1944.  These items of record include (then list items):   Thank you for your kind consideration of this request.   (Please put your name                                                         Sincerely, and address on each             Copies of Forms                                              Your Signature copy of a form that                     must be LEGIBLE you submit with this                    and Notarized.                   (You’ll want to save a copy of this letter.)                                                                                                 letter for your records!)     CALL THE BELOW **NUMBER TO GET THE ADDRESS OF THE FRENCH CONSULATE IN THE CITY THAT IS NEAREST TO YOU:   Atlanta     (404) 495-1660     Houston         (713) 572-2799     New York            (212) 606-3600 Boston     (617) 832-4400     Los Angeles   (310) 235-3200     San Francisco    (415) 397-4330 Chicago   (312) 327-5200     Miami             (305) 403-4150     Washington DC  (202) 944-6195                                               New Orleans  (504) 523-5772