An already highly honored civil engineering technician at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center has another award to add to his collection.

Louis Webster “Webb” Mason, 57, was awarded the Silver de Fleury medal in a ceremony June 24. Mason was recognized for more than two decades of service at ERDC in both technical and leadership positions.

“This medal is a lifetime-achievement award,” said Gary Anderton, chief of the airfields and pavements section of the Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory and Mason’s supervisor. “Throughout Webb’s entire career here, I have known him to be a consummate professional in his field.”

A senior technician in the airfields and pavements section, Mason supervises various types of construction projects and specializes in pavement test section construction, analysis and evaluation. He started at Waterways Experiment Station in 1985 as a contract welder and became a full-time employee in 1991.

In addition to his years of service at the Vicksburg installation, Mason was recognized for three military deployments — two to Iraq, in 2004 and 2005, and one to Afghanistan at the end of 2007 — in service to American military efforts as well as local reconstruction projects such as roads, medical clinics and other public facilities.

While in Afghanistan, he was wounded in June 2008 by rocket fire. He lost his left arm, suffered injury to his left leg and spent months recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Mason was awarded the Defense of Freedom Medal, the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart, in February. He returned to full-time work at ERDC on March 2.

Mason’s is the third Silver de Fleury medal awarded this year to an ERDC employee. Research hydraulic engineer Thomas Richardson, former director of the Coastal Hydraulics Laboratory at ERDC, was honored during a retirement ceremony Jan. 7. Brig. Gen. Jimmy Fowler, an associate technical director of the CHL, was awarded the medal April 5.

Named for Revolutionary War-era French soldier Francois de Fleury, the award first created by the Continental Congress to honor the man who fought alongside Gen. George Washington now honors individuals who have contributed significantly to Army engineering.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com