He was the last French hero of the “longest day”. After the death of Léon Gautier on Monday, Emmanuel Macron chaired this Friday the national tribute to the last French veteran of the D-Day landings in 1944 in Normandy in Ouistreham (Calvados).
In accordance with his will, the ceremony took place on this beach where he landed on June 6, 1944 with his 176 comrades from the Kieffer commando.
In the afternoon, the funeral of Léon Gautier will be celebrated in the intimacy of the family in the Saint-Samson church in the town of Ouistreham. He will then be buried in the civil cemetery of Ouistreham.
Relive the national tribute to Léon Gautier on video
“The legend of an ordinary man becoming a hero”
“Four years ago, Léon Gautier was asked what had crossed his mind on the morning of June 6, 1944…” Emmanuel Macron delivered Léon Gautier’s eulogy, emphasizing that he “is one of those ordinary Frenchmen determined to accomplish the extraordinary”.
On the sands of Ouistreham, under a cloudless summer sky, he spoke “the legend of an ordinary man becoming a hero”, “embodiment of this spirit of resistance so French and, basically, so republican”. A legend “offered as a model”he insisted, recalling that Léon Gautier had said that, just before disembarking, he and his companions had “decided” that they would not re-embark.
And to conclude: “Léon Gautier is still there, looking at us with the benevolent simplicity of one who served France and restored the Republic (…) With his bushy eyebrows, his fatigues and his eternal green beret, his young man’s smile and his unfeigned humility, Léon Gautier was there”.
Beyond the man, the President of the Republic saluted the memory of the 177 members of the Kieffer commando, “of all origins and all conditions”. “They were determined to make the sacrifice of their young lives so that an old story, the History of France, continues to be written”he said.
“With each of their steps progressed the Republic, that which unites our destinies in the same momentum. With each step, advanced France which never renounces to be faithful to itself”he added.
Léon Gautier’s coffin on Ouistreham beach
Léon Gautier had chosen Ouistreham beach for a final tribute. It was on this beach that he landed on June 6, 1944 with his 176 Kieffer commando comrades.
He lived in this city of Calvados since the 1990s where he continued, “animated by an ardent thirst to transmit”to recount his five years of war to college and high school students.
His coffin was carried there by six marines. On the coffin placed on the beach, the green beret of the last of the 177 members of the Kieffer commando.
On the coffin placed on the beach, the green beret of the last of the 177 of the Kieffer commando © Radio France – Nolwenn Le Jeune The coffin of Léon Gautier during the national tribute on the beach of Ouistreham on July 7, 2023 © Radio France – Nolwenn The young
The Marseillaise on this landing beach
The national tribute ceremony began around 12:25 p.m. on Ouistreham beach and lasted nearly forty minutes.
The Marseillaise resounded on this beach where Léon Gautier landed 79 years ago.
Emmanuel Macron arrived a little earlier at Carpiquet airport, near Caen, accompanied by his wife, Brigitte Macron.
Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron during the national tribute to Léon Gautier in Ouistreham on July 7, 2023 © Radio France – PASCAL ROSSIGNOL
The ceremony, open to the public, was held in the presence of family and loved ones as well as members of the government, including Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
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Léon Gautier died at the age of 100. Born in 1922 in Rennes, he joined London and General de Gaulle in July 1940.
On June 6, 2023, on the occasion of the 79th anniversary of the D-Day, Emmanuel Macron presented alongside Léon Gautier, the green berets to the students of the School of Marine Riflemen during a ceremony in Colleville-Montgomery (Calvados).
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Last fall, France Bleu Normandie met Léon Gautier on the occasion of his 100th birthday on October 27, 2022. Video testimony to be found here.
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Reactions in Normandy to the death of Léon Gautier, the last French veteran of the Kieffer commando
2023-07-07 10:39:44
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