Bradford Freeman Legion d'Honneur

"The last surviving member of Easy Company portrayed in the book and Steven Spielberg's HBO miniseries 'Band of Brothers' died on July 3.
Bradford Freeman of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, which fought on D-Day, in the Battle of the Bulge, and liberated concentration camps in Nazi Germany, passed away on Monday at the age of 97.
The division, known as the Screaming Eagles, fought its way across France, Holland and Belgium before reaching Austria in the deadliest war in human history.
Freeman, a Caledonia, Miss., native, enlisted in the US Army in 1942, volunteering for paratrooper duty, soon to be assigned as a mortarman in Company E (Easy Company).
Freeman jumped with Easy Company into Normandy, France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, with an 18-pound mortar baseplate strapped to his chest.
He was later honored with the French Legion of Honor, the country’s highest military honor, for his service in the liberation of France.
Sticking with his company throughout, Freeman fought in Operation Market Garden and later formed part of the defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.
He was wounded during the attack on Noville on Jan. 14, with shrapnel embedding itself in his knee when a German rocket exploded near him.
It was the last combat Freeman would see, taking three months to recover from the wound.
But Freeman later rejoined his unit and participated in the occupation of Berchtesgaden and Austria.
Freeman returned to Caledonia after the war to get married to his childhood sweetheart and built a home. He raised two daughters and entered college using the GI Bill, going on to work in the postal service for 30 years.
The retired soldier kept a close friendship with Major Richard 'Dick' Winters after the war, portrayed by Damien Lewis in the miniseries."
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10983051/Last-surviving-member-Band-Brothers-Easy-Company-dies-aged-97-Mississippi.html