Retired Lt. Col. Robert J. Hambly, a member of St. Christopher Church in Radcliff, Ky., was honored Nov. 17 at the Patton Museum in Fort Knox, Ky., for his military service. He is a veteran of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.
At the ceremony, he received the French Legion of Honour Award, France’s highest decoration — from the French Consulate General of Chicago on Hambly’s 92nd birthday.
Hambly served in the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division and the 3rd Army under General George S. Patton. He served in all six ground campaigns of Operation Cobra, an offensive in Normandy that came about seven weeks after the D-Day landings in the summer of 1944, according to the U.S. Army’s website.
For his service in France, Hambly was individually awarded (as a sergeant) the French Croix de Guerre and the French Fourragère.