I get tired of hearing how cowardly the French are. I am of French-Indian descent, born and grew up in Callaway, Minn., on the White Earth Indian Reservation. I served over three years in the U.S. Army during World War II, including one year of occupation duty, and finished my duties as an instructing officer in the newly forming 11th Constabulary Regiment in Weiden, Germany.
Our infantry company during combat in eastern France had three Free French soldiers attached to us because they knew the country and shared their knowledge of it with us. One of these valuable people was shot in the chest shortly after Christmas 1944. I do not know if he died or lived.
My best friend in Callaway as a youngster was a tail gunner on a World War II bomber. The first two times he was shot down, Sonny Theriault (note-French), was sneaked to safety through the Free French Underground. The third time he had to bail out he was injured and captured. Sonny, a French American, was a brave man. The Free French, as all of that lost French generation, were as brave and loyal as was my American generation.
I gravely dislike the thought of our young people reading such trash as Mallard Fillmore writes daily in The Forum and would believe such Republican propaganda he writes is actually the truth.
I have seen and heard my comrades and German soldiers die. They all hurt. I will vouch for the saying "war is hell." I've been there.
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Kids, believe me, the French had more people killed in World War II than America did.
Duane W. Bellefeuille
Perham, Minn.
