MAC: French honor Canton WWII hero

The following story appears in the December 12 edition of “Man About Canton” by Joe DeFelice.

Canton native Ed Estey, 88, recently received the Legion of Honor Medal from the French government. The medal was first instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte and is considered the highest military honor in France.

Ed Estey accepts the Legion of Honor medal from the French consul general.

Estey landed on the beach of Normandy on June 9, 1944, as part of the U.S. Army’s D-Day invasion and went on to participate in the military campaigns in northern France. Estey was only 18 when he was fighting in World War II and was in the Army from 1943 to 1946. He received the Combat Infantry Badge and the Bronze Star. He was a corporal with the 29th Infantry Division.

When Ed returned home to Canton, he helped run the family variety store, now Page’s Variety at the corner of Bolivar and Pine streets in the Springdale section of Canton. He also went on to manage the Estey Springdale Mud Hens softball team in the Canton Men’s Softball League in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

In 1994, Estey had the opportunity to return to Normandy for the 50^th anniversary of D-Day. He said, “One of the most profound moments was seeing the cemetery there, which went on as far as the eye could see.”

“It was kind of surreal, going back,” he said, recalling that 25 people he knew from Canton were killed during the war. Estey, now living in Holbrook, received the Legion of Honor Medal from the French Consul General Fabien Fieschi at his daughter Suzanne McCadden’s Abington home with his wife, Florence Estey, beside him. All three of Ed Estey’s children were there to see him get his medal.

During World War II, 467 servicemen received the Medal of Honor; only eight are still living.

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