Meritorious Service Medal
Awarded on: 2001-06-25
Invested on: 2001-12-21
Jean Bordes, M.S.M., Montrejeau, France
Meritorious Service Medal (civil division)
Through the hard work of Jean Bordes, a French citizen, a cemetery was constructed in Nistos, France, where seven military personnel, including one Canadian, perished in an airplane crash in World War II. In 1990, Mr. Bordes was able to obtain the necessary funding and material to construct a cemetery at this site, at an altitude of more than 1400 metres, on the slopes of the Pic du Douly. Because of his devotion to the cause of Remembrance, the cemetery was completed in 1994 and inaugurated in 1997 in the presence of a Canadian delegation, which included the son of the Canadian airman.