World War II Honoree

John Jacob Witmeyer, Jr.

Branch of Service

U.S. Army

Hometown

New Orleans, Louisiana

Honored By

Pearl Thomas

He enlisted in the U.S. Army the day after Pearl Harbor and was a technical sergeant in the 79th Infantry Division that landed on Utah Beach in Normandy, and went on to liberate La Haye du Puits and Cherbourg. He was awarded two Purple Hearts and was awarded a Battlefield Commission in 1944 as an officer in the 79th Infantry Division. At the war's end he became the Displaced Person's Camp Commander in Czechoslovakia. On June 5, 2009, the eve of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, he was one of 75 recipients of the Legion of Honor.