"Many in this room have been touched by history. Many in this room have made history," said U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan on Monday, Feb. 13, when he awarded William (Bill) Koeln and Harold (Hal) Roth the French Legion of Honor, the highest honor in France, first awarded for merit or bravery by Napoleon Bonaparte. In the last decade the French have made an effort to award the medal to Americans who fought to free their country.

Paul Dillon of Maryland Heights, Missouri commander of the American Ex-Prisoners of War, echoed Carnahan's assessment.

Dillon, whose father was a POW in Stalag 17 during World War II, said, "It was a pretty tough go for all of them. It's the families doing this. They (veterans) will tell you they don't deserve it, but the families and we know that they deserve it."

Military and government leaders attended the ceremony at The Hallmark of Creve Coeur, where Roth and his wife, Shirley, have lived since 2005. Bill and Doris Koeln live in south St. Louis County.

St. Louis County Executive Charles Dooley delivered proclamations proclaiming the day in Koeln and Roth's honor as people who "afforded us the opportunity to be here today."

Col. Christopher G. Hall, commander of the St. Louis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, called the former POWs part of an "amazing" generation. "We have in reality a short time left to honor them."

Col. David W. Newman, commander of the 157th Air Operations Group, Missouri Air National Guard, noted how young - college age - most of the men were who landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy.

"I can't imagine an 18-year-old from St. Louis being there," he said.

Local men who answered

Roth, now 87, came ashore with the First Infantry Division in the second wave at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944. His biography states that he left his radio transmitter in the surf and "taking only his M-1 rifle, Hal swam, ran and crawled his way onto the beach, dodging artillery and machine gun fire." When Germans captured him in LaVal, France, he alertly discarded the dog tags that identified him as Jewish.

Forced to move between three prison camps, he adeptly snuck out and bartered for food. His diary, kept in his sleeve jacket, is in the National Prisoner of War Museum in Andersonville, Ga. One of his paintings, "The Silent Table," is displayed at the St. Louis Soldiers Memorial Military Museum.

Fierce combat in France

Koeln was 19 when Germans captured him in 1944 as they overran his 3rd Infantry Division unit during fierce fighting in the "Bloody Colmar Pocket" of northern France. Forced to march in harsh winter conditions, he did hard labor at Stalag 7A.

He and his wife have been married 62 years. Her husband, Doris Koeln said, thinks it best that they met after the war - at church - because he was not ready emotionally when he returned from Europe to make that commitment.

Several speakers, including Roth's stepson, Larry Comensky of Creve Coeur, noted the courage and humility of soldiers who fought and contributed to keep freedom alive.

Koeln's guests included Scott and Julie Hardeman and their son, Henry, age 8. Henry said that his class at Rohan Woods School had not studied World War II yet, "but I learned about it today."

The medal recipient said of his young friend's future, "I would hope that whatever is asked of him he will answer with pride."