A Eugene-area man was awarded France’s highest military decoration Thursday for his role in liberating the country from Nazi tyranny more than 65 years ago.
89-year-old United States Army veteran Edgar Peara received the French Legion of Honor from French Deputy Consul Corinne Pereira in front of a packed Eugene City Council Chambers. Peara served as an officer in command of beach clearing operations before amphibious assaults in the European, North African and Pacific theaters of World War II. He was present at the invasions of Normandy, Sicily and Salerno in Italy, Algeria and Okinawa, Japan. Following the end of the war, Peara became an ordained Unitarian minister and has preached messages of peace up to this day.
Minutes before the official ceremony began at 2 p.m. Thursday, Peara, dressed in an olive-drab first lieutenant’s service dress uniform decked with medals, walked up and down the aisles of the bustling City Council Chamber embracing the crowds. He shook hands, gave hugs and told jokes.
Once the ceremony began, Peara was seated next to Eugene mayor Kitty Piercy and Pereira. Pereira, who came all the way from the French Consulate in San Francisco for the event, thanked Peara for his defense of her nation. The consul said she and the French people were grateful for American servicemen like Peara, the sacrifices they made during World War II and the bravery of their actions.
“To do as you did,” Pereira said, speaking to Peara, “(was) to rescue France and Europe from pure hell.”
Later, she placed the red Legion of Honor medal on Peara’s right breast, immediately opposite a white Veterans for Peace button that stood out against his many medals and awards.
Peara is now a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. The award is often — but not exclusively — military in nature, and it was established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. French President Nicolas Sarkozy is responsible for designating its recipients. Pereira said this is the second such award she has awarded to an American service member and that the French government determines such designations with the assistance of U.S. military records.
After receiving the award, Peara spoke to the audience and echoed a need for peace and restraint in military matters.
To roaring applause, Peara said these words: “No nation should include war as an instrument of foreign policy.”
Peara said although much of his time in the military revolved around training and invasions, he still had downtime within the Army’s “hurry-up-and-wait structuring.” It was during this time he began studying and reading up on becoming a minister.
Peara was a student at Iowa State College on Dec. 7, 1941 when he heard the news that the Japanese Empire had attacked Pearl Harbor unprovoked. While at home on Christmas break, he volunteered for the Army. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In August of 1942, the serviceman was sent to Scotland to train for amphibious assaults in preparation for the Allied North African campaign that began later that year.
Peara said his transition to civilian life after the war was an easy one and that he enjoyed returning to college under the G.I. Bill.
“My college life was happy. I was an honor student, played first-string college football, was happy to date coeds (and) loved the academic learning experience,” Peara said in an email statement.
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