A U.S. Army veteran who has masqueraded as a D-Day paratrooper for the elite 82nd Airborne Division for decades is due to receive France’s highest military award despite discrepancies in his service accounts.

Howard Manoian told of landing behind enemy lines on D-Day as a paratrooper, but National Archives records prove he served as a member of a less glamorous chemical warfare unit that came ashore on Utah Beach and ran a supply dump.

The French government still plans to award the Legion of Honor to Manoian, despite being aware of the discrepancies.