New Orleans hat seller honored by France for service in WWII

By KEVIN McGill
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A 99-year-old New Orleans businessman best known in the city as a proprietor of his family’s landmark hat store on St. Charles Avenue has been honored by the French government for his military service during World War II. Samuel Meyer, who still puts in a few days a week at Meyer the Hatter, the business started by his grandfather in 1894, was awarded the rank of chevalier, or knight, of the National Order of the Legion of Honor. Drafted at age 18, Meyer was an Air Force corporal who served as an armorer, charged with loading bombs and ammunition on P-38 fighter planes. He served in Britain, Belgium, France and Germany.