The Consulate General of France in Atlanta presented Hilliard Chastain’s family with his World War I dog tag on July 13 in celebration of Bastille Day and 250 years of friendship between France and the United States.
Delphine Jeroudi, communications and press officer at the Consulate General of France in Atlanta, said the rare reunification of a WWI veteran’s family with his dog tag is “a meaningful reminder of the enduring solidarity and bond between our two nations.”
“This is actually the first time for us that we will give back a dog tag from World War I,” Jeroudi said. “Usually, we award the French Legion of Honor to the World War II veterans who fought on French soil.”
250 years of friendship
The French embassy has 10 consulates across the United States. The one in Atlanta represents the southeast. The July 13 ceremony and Bastille Day reception sold out with about 400 seats.
Jeroudi said Consul General Anne-Laure Desjonquères has bestowed France’s highest national honor on more than 15 American veterans who liberated the country from Nazi occupation.
“We have different programming to make sure that the next generation is aware of the legacy of World War II veterans,” she said. “It’s especially important this year because we’re celebrating the 250th anniversary of the French-American friendship … it’s a big anniversary for you in the U.S., but also for French people because we helped America during the Independence War.”
Chastain family
Chastain was born in Jackson, AL, in September 1897. Before age 20, he enlisted in the Alabama National Guard and served with the 167th Infantry Regiment. Chastain deployed to Europe in November 1917, attached to the 42nd “Rainbow” Division and served in France and Germany until April 1919.
After recovering from influenza and pneumonia, he was discharged in May 1919, and returned to work as a tugboat captain in Mobile, AL.
Hillard Chastain’s oldest grandchild, Linda Chastain Rowe, lives in the city of Dacula in Gwinnett County. She said her brother in Florida received a call from someone looking for a descendant of the WWI veteran, which kicked off the process.
Linda said she never knew her grandfather, who passed away when she was 2 years old.
“Actually, our family is French, so that makes it even more meaningful,” she said. “I didn’t even know he served in France. It’s really special. The gentleman who found it Facebooked me and sent me some messages about it, so that’s neat.”
Help from the West Coast
Following its discovery, the artifact was entrusted to retired French Air Force Lt. Gen. Daniel Bastien last November, who worked with retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Johnson in Los Angeles to track down Chastain’s descendants and arrange for its return.
Johnson said he thinks “it’s incredible” that two WWI dog tags have been found in France in the last year. He said the other one was presented last year in Los Angeles, and he’s “been thrilled doing research.”
“It took me a while, but I located Chastain’s grandson in Florida,” Johnson said. “He’s got relatives in Atlanta, and the family decided to have the presentation.”
Johnson, who served 21 years as an aerospace engineer and retired in 1990, said he has yet to meet Bastien, but has been working with him for a couple of years to track down veterans’ relatives. He speaks French, which helps.
“I’ve been involved with the French veterans recognition programs since 1998,” Johnson said. “You know, that’s 28 years ago. And it’s been a wonderful opportunity to meet so many World War I and World War II veterans. I was born on D-Day, one year later, and it’s always been something important to me.”
More than 325 World War I and II veterans and their families have the French Legion of Honor because of him. Johnson was sure to mention that the honor is increasingly rare as the average WWII veteran is over 100 years old.
“When we defeated the British at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, it was the French marine and naval forces that helped Washington defeat General Cornwallis,” Johnson said. “We just celebrated the 250th anniversary of our independence, of which France played a big part in defeating the British.”
Across the Atlantic
Last fall, French citizen Olivier Bena found Hilliard Chastain’s WWI dog tag on top of a hill while walking his dog outside Jussarupt, a small village in the Vosges Mountains in northwestern France.
While emailing through Delphine Jeroudi, press officer at the Consulate General of France in Atlanta, Bena said finding WWI artifacts “are actually fairly common” in the mountains near the German border. He said American ones “are much rarer.”
“To my knowledge, there were no American troops in the village of Jussarupt itself,” Bena wrote. “Such discoveries are more common along the Vosges ridgelines, which formed the border with Alsace (then under German control). American soldiers were often assigned to work in sawmills, which may explain why the dog tag was found there and how it came to be lost.”
Bena said the village where he found the dog tag was not far from the WWI front, but not in a combat zone either.
“It is possible that he went on top of this small mountain just to have a view on [sic] the valley,” Bena wrote. “At that time, there were much less [sic] trees.”
