AUBURN — “I just did what I was supposed to do,” said 93-year-old Louis P. Roberge of Lewiston as he modestly accepted six long-overdue medals, including the Bronze Star Medal, from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins at a ceremony Friday afternoon.

On the 70th anniversary of D-Day, Collins reminded guests and Roberge family members attending the presentation at Alden M. Gayton American Legion Post 31 that half a world away at the time of the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, other soldiers, sailors and airmen were preparing for the liberation of the Philippines.

Among them was Cpl. Roberge, a young Lewiston shoemaker who had enlisted in the U.S. Army about three and a half years earlier and had trained to become a tank driver.

Just a few months after D-Day, Roberge came ashore on the Philippine Island of Leyte. He recalled that his arrival was just a day or two from the date that Gen. Douglas MacArthur made his historic return to the Philippines.

Roberge said he had landed on the beach 40 to 50 feet from where Gen. MacArthur had waded ashore. It marked the beginning of the decisive air and sea Battle of Leyte Gulf, often called the largest naval battle in history.

Roberge served with distinction until his discharge in January 1946, but he never received the several medals connected with his tour of duty. Earlier this year, his family contacted Collins’ office, which was able to help secure the medals. 

“It is an honor to stand in the presence of such patriotism,” Collins said as she gave Roberge a flag that had been flown in his honor over the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

She said the life he led over the past seven decades is what was intended by all of the men and women who serve in the military during wars or in peacetime, and he is an example of the reason such sacrifices are made.

Col. John R. Mosher, Maine Army National Guard, also participated in the ceremony. Pointing to the medals on display, Mosher said, “These tell the story of a great soldier.”

“It’s too much to believe,” said Roberge of the event held in his honor. “When I joined the Army there was no draft and the war had not begun. They didn’t have a uniform for me, so they gave me a World War I uniform, and I had to wear that for about a month.”

He described his three weeks of training for crewman on a tank, and he proudly showed three small snapshots of himself with his crew mates. He pointed out the tank’s armament, explained his duties and noted that those snapshots were about the only pictures he had been able to bring back.

Four generations of the Roberge family proudly witnessed Friday’s medal presentation. Among them was the soldier’s son, Robert Roberge, a Vietnam War veteran. Also standing with her husband of 67 years was Juliette St. Marie, whom Roberge had courted on Army leave. They still live in the small house in Lewiston that he bought on the GI Bill in 1954.

One-month-old Brylee Roberge, their great-granddaughter, slept through the speeches. Two great-grandsons, 14 and 15 years old, also attended.

Alan Laverdure, commander of American Legion Post 31, and Paul Beaucage, post chaplain, took part in the ceremony.

The medals and honors presented to Louis Roberge were the Bronze Star Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon and Bronze Star attachment (double), the Combat Infantryman Badge First Award and the Honorable Service Lapel Button.