Wheaton WWII veteran receives French Legion of Honor award
Seventy years ago, in the summer of 1944, a young Air Force pilot named Ed Kregor and a small group of compatriots flew dozens of secret missions in the dead of night, dropping supplies and weapons to the resistance in Nazi-occupied France.
The missions were harrowing. They had to be conducted in near-total darkness in a plane that had been painted black. Kregor had to fly dangerously low to the ground so that he could see his targets, which were usually small bonfires. Many times, Kregor could see armored German vehicles lurking near the targets.
On Sunday, inside the VFW Post 8081 in Warrenville, the French government formally thanked Kregor for his World War II service by presenting him with the Legion of Honor medal, France's highest honor.
“It's overwhelming,” said an emotional Kregor, who is now 95 and lives in Wheaton. “I never thought about awards or anything like that all those years ago, but it means so much.”
The medal was presented by Vincent Floreani, consul general of France in Chicago.
“The French people will never forget all that we owe to America,” Floreani told Kregor's family and friends, who packed into the VFW hall for the ceremony. “To us, American veterans are heroes.”
Turning to Kregor, Floreani added: “Thanks to your service, France has been living in peace for 70 years. Every French person has a special place in his heart for you.”
Pat Marko, a Warrenville resident and Kregor's daughter, said she was surprised that her father agreed to Sunday's ceremony.
“He's not someone who's into being honored,” she said. “He doesn't seek out attention, and he never really talked much about the war. But I'm so thrilled. He's my hero. The best man I know.”
Kregor entered the service in December 1943. His secret missions over France, known as “carpetbagger” missions, occurred from June 12 to Sept. 15 of 1944.
During those flights, Kregor and his fellow pilots dropped off supplies and weapons to the resistance groups fighting the German occupation. Sometimes, the carpetbagger pilots dropped British spies from their planes.
“It could be very difficult work,” Kregor said.
After the war, Kregor worked as a restaurant owner, then went back to school so he could become a high-school English teacher. Later, he worked as a curriculum consultant for the Illinois State Board of Education.
Kregor's wife of 67 years, Nellie, died in 2010. They had four children — two daughters and two sons. Today, Kregor has 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, with a 13th on the way.
“I know that Nellie is watching from heaven and is very proud of her husband,” Mary Perona, Kregor's second daughter, said at the start of Sunday's ceremony.
The Legion of Honor was established in the 19th century by Napoleon Bonaparte, and it recognizes eminent service to the French Republic.
Several of the speakers at Sunday's ceremony expressed condolences to the people of France in light of the deadly terrorist attack that happened last week in Paris. Floreani thanked them for those remarks, saying that they were another sign of the United States and France's “common values.”