Hometown hero, WWII veteran John Bellefontaine dead at 98

John Bellefontaine, who fought in one of the bloodiest battles of World War II and was honored in recent years as a hometown hero, died May 28, one day before Memorial Day.

He was 98.

A native of Montreal, Canada, his family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida, and he became a U.S. citizen in 1942. He joined the Army the following year when he turned 18.

He was assigned to 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion where he fought in France and the Battle of the Bulge, and was a French interpreter.

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He was scheduled to return to Belgium in 2020, where he would receive the French Legion of Merit medal, but the trip had to be canceled because of coronavirus travel restrictions.

That sparked an idea by his daughter, Deborah Fike, who decided in September of that year to go on Facebook and promote an impromptu drive-by parade to honor his service.

“Probably a thousand people responded,” she told the Daily Commercial. “It’s overwhelming.

More than 100 vehicles, including motorcycles and vehicles flying American flags drove past his home on Irongate Drive.

“I’m so shocked by the reaction,” he said.

He returned salutes and looked on as a veterans’ color guard fired a 21-gun salute.

“I did what I was expected to do, and we were trained so much we did everything automatically. All of a sudden there’s bullets in the air and you’re wondering how you got there.”

His unit lost four out of five men in the freezing weather before the German attack was repulsed.

“I don’t regret anything, except the people that didn’t come back,” he said.

In 2021, he was the guest of honor at Memorial Day services in Eustis.

He was awarded the WW II Victory medal and Parachute Wings with Combat Jump Star and Combat Infantry Badge and Order of the Airborne Bayonet and the American Campaign 1941-1945, the Bronze Star of Valor and the Presidential Unit Citation.

After retiring from the Army he was an electronics civil service worker.

Survivors include his wife, Patricia, and his three children Yannick and Steve Bellefontaine, and Deborah Fike; stepdaughter Anne Marie, 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Funeral Services will be held on June 23 at Allen J. Harden funeral home in Mount Dora at 10 a.m. Burial with honors will be held at Bushnell National Cemetery at 2 p.m. It will be open to the public.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Hometown hero, WWII veteran John Bellefontaine dead at 98