“Je me souviens,” reads the French inscription on license plates in the Canadian province of Quebec. Translated as “I remember” and sometimes as “lest we forget,” that phrase well expresses how Oak Harbor resident Roy McWilliams, veteran of the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, felt upon learning he is in line to receive the French Legion of Honor award, France’s highest decoration, for his wartime service.

McWilliams, 87, said he feels honored and humbled by the news.

“Naturally, I’m excited about all this — I feel blessed just to be here more than 65 years after the fact,” he said.

McWilliams’ daughter, Peggy Gipson, of Livingston, Calif., is equally thrilled for him.

“I’m just so very proud,” said Gipson. “Very few people receive this honor.”

Gipson said because few WWII veterans are left these days she hopes her dad will receive the honor while his health still allows.

The Legion of Honor award process is a long one. It’s possible McWilliams’ award may have been delayed even longer due to a name change he applied for shortly after the war.

Stephane Remy, assistant to the Consulate General of France in San Francisco, said that McWilliams made them aware of the name change early on in the process, which has helped.

“We’re currently working in coordination with Mr. McWilliams and our Honorary Consul of France in Seattle to find the best way to schedule the ceremony, and to see which representative will be available to travel to Oak Harbor,” said Remy.

A long journey

McWilliams’ journey to the French forests of Ardennes during the winter of 1944/45 is very much an international one. He began his life in Vancouver, British Columbia, and his family immigrated to the United States in search of work during the Depression. Financial struggles, and a family broken by divorce and poverty meant that he had to look after himself from an early age. It was enough to break some people, but instead, his daughter credits it for helping to strengthen McWilliams for what was yet to come.

“The struggles of growing up during the Depression, plus his wartime experiences, are what shaped him into the man he became,” said Gipson.

In 1943, McWilliams was drafted into the Army, where he first served in the ranks of the 66th infantry division. Both the needs of the Army and his own desire for better pay drove what transpired next.

“One day, an officer asked us for paratrooper volunteers. Even though I didn’t fully understand what that involved, I learned my pay would jump from a monthly $32 to $90, plus hazard pay, and that was enough for me,” McWilliams said.

Not for nothing were they awarded hazardous duty pay, he found out.

“Once, while still in training, I watched as six men from a single plane were killed when their parachutes failed to open,” he said.

An investigation later revealed that the men’s parachutes were dampened by a rain leak the night before the jump.

On foreign soil 

In France, as the great battle began and dragged on, McWilliams remembered weeks of bitterly cold temperatures at night in the dead of winter. Though the Army tried to outfit its soldiers against the cold, there were shortcomings.

“I finally jettisoned my heavy wool overcoat, because when we marched, it so overheated your body,” he said. “This, in spite of the fact that my feet were always cold — and the skimpy wool gloves we were issued at that time allowed our wrists to freeze.”

Many men were disabled by frostbite and frozen feet. McWilliams says he believes that he saved his own feet from permanent injury by changing his socks three times a day, and drying them inside his coat.

Although the Allies ultimately prevailed, the casualties were staggering.

“We (Americans) lost 19,000 in this battle, with many more thousands injured or missing in action. People nowadays just don’t comprehend the casualty levels that wartime brings with it,” he said.

As it turned out, McWilliams would end up fighting for his adopted country not only as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne division, but by also serving in the Navy. His naval service was spent aboard a submarine, the USS Capitaine (SS-336), and during the Korean War, the heavy cruiser USS Helena (CA-75). Although he did not make the military his lifelong career, he says he would do it all over again.

“I have to say, though, that I liked serving on submarines the best of all,” he said. “It was good food and good deployments.”

McWilliams said his experiences serving in the ranks of the armed forces later led to his fascination with lasers, which preceded a 27-year career with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, and work with the Atomic Energy Commission. The life-long work involved travel, test flights, a patent granted to him for an invention, and also some dangerous moments.

“God spared my life on several occasions,” said McWilliams.

Even though his life has spanned some remarkable events in some history-making locations, the great joys of his life are his wife, VerylAnn; his daughter, Peggy, and her family; and his faith in God.

Peggy says that thanks to his having lived through them, those events are now more than just pages in a book, or documentary, for her.

“The history and the knowledge my dad has about battles and wars just amazes me,” she said.

Note:  The Legion of Honor is an Order of Chivalry awarded by the president of France. First instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte on May 29, 1802, it is one of the most prestigious French awards, and the country’s highest civilian honor. It is generally awarded for military service. More than 50,000 were awarded during World War II.