World War II veteran recognized for heroism
He fought the Nazis and helped liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp, so there was no way Clarence Brockman, 94, was going to be deterred by a snowstorm that coincided with his trip to the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., where he was scheduled to receive a medal that has enshrined heroes since the days of Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Legion of Honor, France’s highest distinction, singles out those who risked their lives fighting on French territory.
Those who are appointed are known as “chevaliers,” the French word for knight.
The Washington County commissioners took note of Brockman’s honor Thursday morning.
“Thank you for everything from Washington County. That’s all I can say,” the World War II veteran told the audience.
“He is Sir Clarence Brockman,” daughter Barbara Brockman pointed out, eliciting a chorus of awe from the crowd gathered at Courthouse Square.
Thursday’s gathering was a bit more informal than the one the Brockman family attended earlier this month at the French Embassy, where Brockman received the medal which features a five-armed cross and a green laurel wreath.
Barbara Brockman recalls Consul General Olivier Serot Alméras fighting back tears as he said, “I can never express to you what you have done for my country.”
After the medal ceremony, the guests enjoyed a champagne-and-pastry reception while a pianist played music popular in the 1930s and ’40s.
Fighting the snow, son James Brockman, his wife, Lynn, Barbara and Clarence Brockman headed back to McDonald, winding up a 17-hour day.
The father and daughter also traveled to a reunion at Buchenwald in 2010. A story at the time in the Observer-Reporter described the scene: “As Clarence H. Brockman of McDonald walked through the gates of the Buchenwald concentration camp several weeks ago, a man in a striped prisoner’s uniform joyfully threw his arms around him. Although Viktor Savytskyi from Ukraine does not speak English, what he was conveying was obvious. He was thanking Brockman and other American soldiers who liberated the Nazi camp 65 years ago. According to Barbara Brockman, Savytskyi ‘saw my dad’s commander’s cap and the 80th (insignia) and just went crazy.'”
Barbara Brockman said the Associated Press photo of her father embracing the man in striped prison garb was published in 9,000 newspapers.
In addition to his honor from the French, the World War II veteran has two Bronze Stars. Although he suffered frostbite during the Battle of the Bulge, he declined to be treated and, therefore, he does not have a Purple Heart among his medals.
Of the 13,000 members of Brockman’s 80th Division, he is one of just a handful to receive the Legion of Honor. Brockman joins Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur as those who received this token of gratitude from the French.