Gordon Rhodes with his Knight of the Legion of Honor medal.

A local veteran was bestowed one of France’s highest honors for his service in World War II. Gordon Rhodes, a resident of Milford, was recently awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honor medal from the French Republic.

Rhodes served in the Army in the 30th Infantry Division from Nov. 11, 1942, to July, 27, 1945. He says he served in “many places, but I ended up in Europe, France.

“I was wounded in France on July 14, 1944,” Rhodes adds. “I’m pretty sure it was a mortar shell. It was during an intense artillery barrage. It was the last shell in that barrage.”

“I took shrapnel to the feet and legs,” he says. “They were mostly flesh wounds. I spent a little over a year in army hospitals.”

Rhodes says the Knight of the Legion of Honor is not easy to come by. He had to apply for it by sending in a copy of his discharge papers and a list of the actions in which he participated. “Shedding blood on French soil was one of the things they accounted for,” he says. Also, the medal is only presented to veterans who are still alive; a deceased veteran is not eligible.

The Knight of the Legion of Honor medal

“It’s been a long time coming,” Rhodes says. “The lieutenant colonel in the 30th Division has kept in contact with some of the French officials over the years. There’s been somewhere around 20 who’ve received it thus far.”

Rhodes grew up in North Webster. He and his wife, Thedia, who passed away seven years ago, settled in Milford in 1960. He worked for Dalton for 27 years, and he is currently a resident at Lakeland Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center.

Gordon and Thedia had two children: Richard Rhodes and Julia Schache. Schache alerted us to Rhodes’ medal. “Not too many people know I’ve received it,” says Rhodes.