HENDERSON (KTNV) — A different kind of spotlight shines on Las Vegas as a local WWII veteran receives one of the highest honors from France.
I first met Private 1st Class Henry Robinson when I had the opportunity to join him and other veterans on a special trip to Washington, D.C. in May of 2022 as part of Honor Flight Southern Nevada.
Toward the end of December, the 98-year-old WWII veteran was surprised when unexpected guests arrived at his Henderson home.
"I had the ambassador of France and the ambassador of the United States come to my house, and his contingencies talked to me," Robinson said.
Robinson soon found out they'd come to present him with the highest honor given by the French government: the French Legion of Honor. In recent years, it's been presented to a select number of American veterans for their wartime bravery.
But Robinson is more than humble when it comes to receiving such a high honor.
"It's unnecessary," he said. "We only did what we were supposed to. You know, we only did what was required, and I'm thinking about the guys we lost."
In 1944, Robinson was a scout behind enemy lines when he entered the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium, aiding in the defeat of the Germans.
In 1945, he helped liberate concentration camps and assisted displaced people for an extra year.
Robinson says memories from that time still haunt him. He told me about one, in particular:
"I think it was a 55th Infantry soldier; he had been pretty badly wounded," Robinson recalled. "He was out in what we call 'no man's land.' There was no way we could get to him to help him, you know. And so he was out there by himself, wounded. And you could hear him calling, 'Mom!' ...And that stays with you."
In the past 10 years, 22 local WWII heroes have received this honor — Robinson would be the 23rd. Sadly, the other 22 recipients are no longer alive.
Although Robinson is thankful for the award, he says he receives it with his military family in mind:
"I'd say, probably, in memory of those who didn't come back," he said.
