“A debt that France owes America’s greatest generation for their service in World War II is a debt that the French people will never be able to repay in full,” Lacroix said. “The French people will never, ever forget the sacrifice of Mr. Higashi, of all the men and women who served in Europe for their country, but also for my country.”

Higashi, one of three South Dakotans to be recognized with the Legion of Honor last week, was born in Belle Fourche where his family operated a small vegetable farm. The family later moved to Spearfish where Higashi graduated from high school in 1941, the Rapid City Journal reported.

Months later, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II that put the freedom of Japanese-American families in jeopardy.

Japanese American families, particularly those on the West Coast, were forced to uproot their lives, ordered to give up their homes and businesses, and forced into relocation centers or internment camps.

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