ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — Two Western New York Army Guard soldiers were among a group of six from Buffalo and Rochester to receive French medals for bravery on Sunday.
Members of B Company, 3rd Battalion, 126th General Support Aviation Battalion, received the French National Defense Gold Medal with Bronze Star on Sunday in Rochester. Major General Michel Natali, the assistant adjutant general of the Army, presented the award.
The six were awarded for their role in a French Special Forces mission in August of 2023, when they came to the aid of the French Special Forces in Northern Iraq. The Rochester-based Soldiers were crewing two CH-47 Chinook heavy-lift helicopters at the time…