Jessie O. Bowman from Granite Falls, NC (Sergeant, 345th Regiment, 87th Infantry Division) along with 13 other American WWII Veterans from the U.S. Southeast was awarded the French Legion of Honor during a ceremony on February 20, 2014 at 1:30 pm at the State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Jessie will be quick to tell you that “I did not win the war; you did not win the war.  We all won this war together!” Jessie Bowman was trained as a gunner operator of an 80mm mortar with company D, 345th infantry of the 87th division.  Jesse fought in the battle of Morcy and then on to the Ardennes Forest and the Black Forest.  Jessie also fought in the Battle of the Bulge, St. Vith and then crossed the Moselle River into Koblentz on the Rhine River and finished up fighting in Plauen in Northern Germany, which is near the Czech border.