Kissimmee WWII veteran honored with French Legion of Honor

A touch of France came to the Kissimmee lakefront Friday, when the Consul General for France in Miami presented a French military medal to U.S. Navy veteran Stephen A. Nemeth.

Nemeth served as a gunner aboard several armed merchant ships that sailed across a stormy, deadly, cold, Nazi U-boat and underwater mine-infested Atlantic Ocean, to deliver vital supplies and soldiers for the war in Europe.

Consul General Vincent Floreani presented the Legion of Honor medal to former U.S. Navy Seaman First Class Nemeth at a ceremony at the American Legion Post 10 in Kissimmee on Friday. Four members of the French military, stationed at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, assisted in the presentation.

American veterans who risked their lives during World War II to fight on French territory may be awarded this distinction. Those selected are appointed to the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor. The Legion of Honor medal is not awarded posthumously.

Nemeth enlisted in the Navy in early 1943 and served on the gun crews aboard three-armed cargo ships.  “Through his military involvement in the struggles that took place in the (English) Channel and off the coast of Normandy, during both D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, and the numerous convoys he was assigned to in extremely hostile conditions, Mr. Nemeth helped secure victory for the Allied forces,” said Consul General Floreani.

The Legion of Honor was created by Napoleon and is France’s highest distinction. To be eligible, an American veteran must meet the strict criteria of having fought in at least one of the 3 main campaigns of the Liberation of France: Normandy, Provence/Southern France, or Northern France.

Nemeth, while serving aboard the SS Abel Parker Upshur from February to August 1944, helped deliver 8,000 tons of ammunition used on the beaches of Normandy, before landing 1,000 soldiers in the nearby port city of Cherbourg while the city was still in enemy hands.  While docked in Cherbourg, Nemeth received a pleasant surprise.

“There were three other ships like ours tied up to the pier in a row. Mine was the last ship. I was on deck working when I saw a sailor walk down the pier, approach the first ship, shout something, and then went to the next ship in line. Even at that distance, he looked familiar. I grabbed the binoculars and saw it was my brother.” Nemeth said.  “He had no idea where I was but knew what kind of ship I served on, so he took a chance. We visited for three hours before one of us had to leave. “

At age 97, Nemeth lives with his daughter Donna, who filled out the medal application on behalf of her father after she learned of the medal program at a Veteran’s dinner last November.

“He always talks about his shipmates on other ships who didn’t make it through the war,” she said. “So I wanted him to receive this award both for his service and in memory of them.”