LYNNWOOD — Robert “Bob” Martinson listened quietly as his words from years ago were read aloud.
He had written down the details of his service in World War II when his memories were sharper.
His cousin, Richard Martinson, a retired U.S. Coast Guard commander himself, read Martinson’s combat biography aloud on Saturday, along with a statement from the French government.
The family had gathered to watch as Bob Martinson, 90, was awarded the rank of chevalier, or knight, in the French Legion of Honor, that country’s highest distinction.
Martinson is “a true national hero” who helped free the world from Nazi domination, the French government wrote.
He served in the U.S. Army from July 1943 to April 1946 and saw combat in France, Germany and Austria. His writings describe the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp, where 1,500 prisoners were found dead in box cars.
Martinson, who previously was awarded the Bronze Star, lives in Lake Forest Park. That city’s mayor, Mary Jane Goss, attended Saturday’s ceremony at ManorCare Health Services in Lynnwood. It was only after she arrived that she realized she also knew Martinson from the Shoreline YMCA, she said.
“It’s pretty amazing the people who live in Lake Forest Park,” she said.
Bob Martinson landed in France on Dec. 8, 1944, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive where many Allied soldiers were killed. His division, the 42nd Infantry, pushed into Germany on Easter Sunday, 1945.
Seeing the Dachau concentration camp was “a most horrific experience,” he wrote. His division later joined the occupation forces in Austria, several villages in the Alps, and Vienna.
As a staff sergeant, Martinson turned down a promotion to master sergeant so he could return home more quickly, he wrote.
He was discharged April 7, 1946, and returned to his hometown of Hoquiam. He had three sons, all of whom attended Saturday’s event.
After the war, Bob Martinson focused on family, said his son, Reed, who flew in from the Netherlands for the ceremony. It wasn’t until after his father retired from his job as a treasurer for a local company that he began reconnecting with people from the war, Reed Martinson said.
One summer Richard Martinson took his daughter and granddaughter, Lauren Armstrong, to Normandy, where Allied forces invaded on D-Day more than 70 years ago.
Lauren, now 7, on Saturday held up the red box containing Bob Martinson’s chevalier medal so the medal could be pinned to his jacket. Tears fell in the audience.
“I’m really proud,” said Lauren, who attends Meadowdale Elementary in Lynnwood. “I’m very proud of him.”
Martinson suffered a bad fall recently, and the Legion of Honor medal isn’t granted posthumously. Richard Martinson lobbied for the ceremony to take place sooner rather than later, he said.
Of 16 million veterans who served in World War II, fewer than a million are still living, according to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
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