NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Nashville and a small town in France have been connected for 65 years, but no one in Nashville knew until recently.

Floyd Moore Jr. remembers his best friend, Charles Peal, a Nashville native who was killed fighting in France in World War II.

"The man could fly an airplane," said Moore. "We was raised as little boys right here on Houston Street over here."

They grew up together, and Peal married Moore's sister Norma before heading off to Europe as a fighter pilot.

"By the age of 24, he was awarded the distinguished Flying Cross on five separate occasions and the Air Medal four different times," said Steve Schmoldt, who researched Peal's service.

In August 1944, Peal was shot down and killed in Crouy, France. He was buried there, but his family also placed a marker in his honor at Woodlawn Cemetery. Wednesday, he was honored by local officials and a representative of the French embassy in Washington, D.C.

While the ceremony took place in Nashville on Wednesday, there was also a ceremony at the same time in France.

"They were under Nazi occupation for four years up to the point they were still under Nazi occupation when Capt. Peal crashed in their town, and he was probably the first American they had seen in four years," said Schmoldt. "He represented hope and freedom for that town."

The people in Crouy, France, ignored the Nazis and buried Peal with his parachute, named a street after him and still remember him 65 years later. It was something that was unknown to people in Nashville and even Peal's relatives until recently, which is why Wednesday's ceremony was held.

"I thought it was the most decent thing anybody could've done," said Moore.

"Long live the American-French friendship," said Col. Vincent Cousin of the French Embassy.

The simultaneous memorials in France and Nashville were coordinated by the sister cities of Nashville.

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