Veteran keeps tough lessons of war alive

Legion of Honor medal awarded for service at Battle of the Bulge

— Walking into Tom Tucker's study in his Escondido home, it's hard to tell he was an architect who founded a firm that helped shape San Diego's skyline.

The small room where the 85-year-old Tucker spends most of his waking hours is filled, from top to bottom, wall to wall with World War II memorabilia.

That war took only 2½ years of his youth, a fraction of the 58 years he spent as a draftsman and architect.

But it has dominated his life, for good reason.

World War II taught him toughness and earned him honors that no amount of success in his lucrative architectural business could match.

He was awarded a Purple Heart in the Battle of the Bulge, a Belgian Croix de Guerre for his distinguished service and, this month, a French Legion of Honor Chevalier medal.

Like the Great Depression, the war shaped Tucker's outlook on life, etching into his memory images of buddies dying next to him and the hardships of trudging through driving snow and freezing rivers in Europe wearing uniforms made for warmer weather.

Those are things he doesn't like to dwell on.

“Talking to Americans about the war might as well be talking to a lamp,” he said. “You get that blank stare. Ask 100 people what the Battle of the Bulge is, and they can't tell you.”

So he transfers his emotional energy to studying World War II, tacking maps of the Battle of the Bulge on his walls, hanging a framed collection of barbed wire, shrapnel and grenade shells he picked up on the battlefield, and occasionally displaying German World War II helmets he brought home from Europe.

For his wartime sacrifice, he was chosen to receive the Legion of Honor medal as part of a French program that started in 2004 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of D-Day. Each year, the program picks 100 to 125 candidates, said retired Air Force Lt. Col. Bob Johnson, who helps the French consulate track down veterans.

Tucker is one of three World War II veterans in San Diego County who are receiving the Legion of Honor this year, Johnson said.

“He was wounded, had a distinguished record, and a very significant amount of combat” in the Battle of the Bulge, he said.

“He deserved it,” said Jack Davis of Pennsylvania, who fought with Tucker. “Tom has a very strong mind. He is a very, very tough guy.”

Tucker traces his resilience to his childhood.

He was born in Ada, Okla., and moved to Escondido with his family when he was 3. His father farmed, and Tucker learned early what a harsh life meant.

In 1943, he was drafted into the Army.

After basic training, Tucker was deployed as a corporal to Europe with Company B, 7th Combat Engineer Battalion, 5th Infantry Division.

The Battle of the Bulge was in Belgium in December 1944, when German forces launched a massive counterattack to block the Allied invasion. It was the bloodiest campaign of the war for U.S. ground forces. Tucker was hit by shrapnel in his back while crossing a river. He recovered and finished the five campaigns he was sent to fight.


