4 U.S. WWII vets get highest French medal

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- Four American World War II veterans were given the French Legion of Honor award in Pittsburgh for their roles in liberating France in 1944, officials said.

Francis Culotta, 91, of Whitehall; Felix Cistolo, 88, of Ellwood City; Martin Tougher, 87, of Forest Hills; and Ross DiMarco, 87, of Uniontown -- all in Pennsylvania -- received France's highest award at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum Saturday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

In 2004, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of D-Day, the French government started to honor American World War II soldiers with records of courage. Since then, approximately 800 medals have been awarded, the newspaper reported.

Culotta worked on wounded men who were evacuated from the beach to Navy ships on the first day at Normandy.

"If you saw 'Saving Private Ryan,' that's what I saw," Culotta said, referring to the 1998 Steven Spielberg film. "Except multiply that a thousand times."

"I feel honored to receive this award," said Cistolo. "But what took them so long to present it to us?"