2023-11-11 12:54:54
November 11 commemorates and celebrates several things this year. As always, it is an opportunity to celebrate the armistice marking the end of the First World War (1914-1918). Since 2012, he has also paid tribute “to all those who died for France”. This Saturday, we add the 100th anniversary of the flame of the Unknown Soldier.
It was lit for the first time by André Maginot, Minister of War in 1923. For the hundred years, a “patriotic and popular” vigil is planned at 6:30 p.m., we learned. franceinfo during the week. It is scheduled to last 45 minutes. A sound and light show on the Arc de Triomphe is organized.
This Saturday morning, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, prayed in front of the statue of Georges Clemenceau. He then rekindled the flame, laid a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier, greeted the veterans and paid tribute to the three French soldiers who died in Iraq during the summer. He took the time to linger to speak with the relatives of these latest victims.
During a speech in front of the flame of the Unknown Soldier, he praised “the power of sacrifice”. This fire “shines in the hearts of the soldiers of France”. He saluted the memory of the dead soldiers in front of certain families: “the nation does not forget”. The Unknown Soldier is of “all religions,” he declared. “It means brotherhood in arms and the flame on his grave for 100 years has never gone out and it will never go out. »
Among the personalities present were Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, the President of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher and the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu.
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