UPDATE: Today's Award Ceremony well-attended

Over 30 attendees, some sitting in folding chairs, others standing, all facing the Seattle Museum of Flight's B-17 and dais, witnessed a humble West Seattle WWII pilot and Boeing test pilot, Henry Sanford "Sandy" McMurray, 90, receiving an award this morning.

He was officially presented with a medal, the prestigious "Chevalie Légion d’Honneur". Dan Hagedorn, Senior Curator of the Museum of Flight, made opening remarks. Jack A. Cowan, Seattle's Consul Honoraire de France, pinned McMurray with the badge, and a cultural kiss on each cheek. The badge has a metallic star over a green garland below another garland, dangling firmly from a bright red ribbon. His sister, three children, grandchildren, and great-granson witnessed the honors.

Said Cowan at the podium, "(We honor) the courage, faith and dedication shown by Mr McMurray contributed more than 60 years ago in defending and preserving the independence of France and save our common values of freedom, tolerance and democracy (...) Courage and bravery are precisely the qualities that Napoleon wished to reward by the creation of the Légion d’Honneur in 1802.

"Your courage and bravery are the reasons the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, decided to award you the highest honor of the French government. More than 60 years ago you rescued people you didn't even know, but you can be sure that those people you did not know have not forgotten you (...) We French people know exactly what we owe to the American people, American Army, and to people like you..."

"I would like to thank the French government and the French people for this great honor," said McMurray during his speech, who appeared to be filled with pride. "Although I am the recipient of this prestigious medal, I am accepting it on behalf of the entire Eighth Air Force air and ground crew (...) I am donating this medal to the Museum of Flight to display that all future generations can appreciate the importance of the long standing relationship between the French and American people.

"The B-17 is an incredible airplane we are standing beside, and designed and built here in Seattle," he added. "Many of the Eighth Air Force crew would not be here today if it were not for this magnificent airplane. I know that I have been blessed to have celebrated so many birthdays and to have such a supportive family and many friends..."

"I'm very proud of him," Sandy's son, Scott, Sales Director, Boeing Business Jets, told the West Seattle Herald. "I would quote Tom Brokaw, in the 'Greatest Generation'. These guys lived through the Depression and they were able to do things almost inhumanely possible. I've known my dad for 59 years and I'm still learning stories."

"It's an honor for the museum," Hagedorn told the West Seattle Herald following the ceremony. "We can't say enough about the fact that we not only memorialize the aircraft and stories of the people who built them, but more importantly we honor the memory of those who actual flew and manned the aircraft. Every day we get new stories about those personalities, truly American stories that really make history come alive. We're losing them in incredible numbers. I was so pleased to see so many children here today. It's really important for them to have what they saw today imprinted upon them that this country was built on the shoulder of these heroes."

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On July 14, Alki resident and retired WWII and Boeing test pilot, Henry Sanford "Sandy" McMurray turned 90. July 14 also happens to be Bastille Day, quite fitting considering the French president named the long-time West Seattle resident and pilot a "Chevalie Légion d’Honneur" Feb. 28. According to the decree, the award "is a sign of France's true and unforgettable gratitude and appreciation for (McMurray's) personal, precious contribution to the United States' decisive role in the liberation of our country during World War 11."

The Legion of Honor was created by Napoleon in 1802. A Legion of Honor presentation ceremony will take place at the Museum of Flight on Friday, July 22, 2011 at 10:00 a.m. in front of the B-17.

McMurray's life in Seattle solidified following his WWII heroism, when he became a pilot for United Airlines where he met his wife, Marjorie, now a Park West resident, then a flight attendant. He became a Boeing production test pilot, and did "shakedowns" before the planes were delivered to customers. He teste-piloted the B-29, B-50, B-47, B-52's and others, like the KC135 refueling tanker which he said was "no problem because I had flown in tight formation in combat". He retired in 1981 having tested 747's.

He invested in West Seattle real estate and owned the building where the Yen Wor Restaurant and Admiral Pub are located. He owned a building in the Alaska Junction rented to a SCUBA business, and the Corner Inn building in the Morgan Junction that is now Zeek's Pizza and the Feedback Lounge. He gave that building to his kids, who still own it.

"Last summer, the Museum of Flight had an event to recognize their restored B-17,' said McMurray's daughter, Patti Pierson, who, with brothers Mike, an EMT, and Scott, Director of Far East Sales, Boeing Business Jets, grew up in Burien, then on North Admiral and graduated West Seattle High School. "Scott invited his friend Christophe Chauvel-Gobin, an Air France pilot, to attend. Christophe was very moved at the event when the B-17 flight crews, including Tuskegee airmen, Rosie the Riveters, women who flew the airplanes from Seattle to England and ground crews stood in recognition of their service.

"The next day, Christophe came to our house. We pulled a map of France and my dad discussed his missions with the B-17 over France. As Christophe left the house he said, 'It has sometimes been said that the French didn't express enough gratitude for the sacrifices made by your crews.' He kissed my dad on both cheeks as a French gesture and said, 'The French are very grateful. My children would probably be speaking German if it weren't for you.' Christophe returned to France and wrote letters to the French government requesting this recognition. My dad would like the Museum of Flight to share this award, especially for those who did not have the opportunity to live the full life he has had at the now age of 90."

"I am accepting this award on behalf of the entire Eighth Army Air Force from World War II, especially my 'Can Do' bomb group, the 305th," said the humble, sharp-minded great-grandfather. His life-long motto could easily be coined "I can do anything" as it seems like he almost did.

Early Interest in flying

McMurray started driving at age 12, in San Leandro, near Oakland, Ca., where he was raised. He said the small town police chief was a friend of his mother and looked the other way. At 15 he bought his first car with paper route money. He attended San Jose State College for two years and enrolled in their Civil Pilot Training program and learned to fly at 19.

He grew up just three miles from the Oakland Airport where a lot of activity took place that helped spark his interest in fight, he recalled.

"I decided at 14 it would be a pretty good idea to learn to fly," said McMurray with a wry smile. "My mother thought it would be nice if I was a mechanic and stay on the ground where it was safe. No way was I going to stay on the ground and work on someone else's airplane. I was going to fly my own. I ended up in the 305th Bomb Group down in Muroc Field, now Edwards Air Force Base. The B-17 pilots trained there. Curtis LeMay was in charge down there. He was going to bomb everyone to oblivion. That was his mindset, anyway.

Flying B-17's over Europe

"The 305th ended up going over to England in Oct., '42 in B-17's and started operationally that December," he recalled. "We flew through the early summer of '43. Our first targets were over occupied France. Later we bombed Germany. Most French targets were naval yards, strategic places, to minimize killing French civilians. Submarines were raising havoc in the convoys, so we went after the sub pens where they refurbished subs when they came in. Some of our targets were on the Atlantic side of the French coast, like Saint Nazaire, then Bremen and Wilhelmshaven, Germany, where U-boats were built and refurbished. Loss rates were horrendous, but as a pilot (on the B-17) I never had a man injured or killed on my new crew. We completed 25 missions."

McMurray then arrived in Seattle to ferry the new B-17's built here by Boeing over to Denver and Cheyenne for modifications, and continued to bases for flight crews to pick them up.

South Pacific to search for his father

In the South Pacific he flew injured, between 20 and 30 stretchers, in Douglas C-54's to Guam, then America. His father, Welborn G. McMurray, a World War I vet, was an Army Lt. Col., a Commissioned Financial Officer in World War II, also in the South Pacific. Sandy said that flying in the Pacific gave him the opportunity to search for his father, missing in action.

"The last letter my mother got from my father was for Valentines Day, 1942," said Sandy. "In Manila I went to headquarters, got some sergeant on the phone, and he says, 'Captain, I am sorry, but your dad died in a prisoner of war camp. He died of malaria on June 14, 1942.'"

Sandy teared up recalling this tragic phone call. "He was a POW at Camp Cabanatuan, the prison camp at the end of the Bataan Death March," Sandy said. "My dad was 56. I seriously doubt he could have handled the Death March. I believe he was on Corregidor (Island) when Gen. Wainwright surrendered and they were all trucked up to Cabanatuan."

Sandy reads the last letter from his father to his mother, "The forest tree was really very kind to drop the heart-shaped leaf at my feet just when I was wishing for a Valentine card to send you. Hope it reaches you (by Easter, anyway)…"

The family still has the large, dried, heart-shaped leaf.