HEBRON, Ky. — Met by a small group of family and friends, 103-year-old Richard Stewart wheeled his way into the CVG Airport welcome zone with a small gold and green star hanging from his jacket.
The star was placed on his chest just a few days earlier by French President Emmanuel Macron, minutes before President Joe Biden shook his hand and patted his shoulder near the beaches of Normandy.
The medal is France's highest honor, the Legion of Honor Medal.
"It was a surprise to me in regards to the medal they gave me," he said.
Stewart was one of 11 World War II veterans who stormed the beaches of Normandy 80 years ago awarded the medal as a recognition of their services to liberate Europe from Nazi control.
He was one of 2,000 African American soldiers who took part in the invasion as part of the Signal Corps. During the service, Macron called the congregation of veterans behind him heroes.
"Here you came to join your efforts with our own soldiers and to make France a free nation, and you are back here, at home, if I may say," he said.
At the airport welcoming him home, Stewart's daughter Olga Simpson said she's very proud of her father, and she hopes people can learn lessons from men like him while they still can.
"Listen to them," she said. "They have a lot to say — first-hand accounts."
Stewart said he still has plenty of time to tell his story before he meets God.
"His servant Moses was 120," said Stewart. "That's what I've asked the good lord — to be around as long as his servant Moses, 120 years."
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