2023-07-03 13:56:03
He was the last of the 177 French people to have landed in Normandy in 1944. Léon Gautier is dead, the Caen memorial announced on Monday, confirming information from West France.
This “D-Day veteran, last member of the commando #Kieffer », the only French unit to land on the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944, was 100 years old.
He died Monday at 7:40 a.m. in a hospital in Caen, the mayor of Ouistreham (Calvados) Romain Bail told AFP.
“We are not heroes, we only did our duty,” he repeated.
Last member of the Kieffer commando who landed with his 176 French comrades in Normandy on June 6, 1944, hero of the Liberation, Léon Gautier has left us.
We won’t forget it. pic.twitter.com/6IPx5mjoM7
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 3, 2023
“We will not forget it,” reacted Emmanuel Macron on Twitter. “We are not heroes, we only did our duty,” he repeated. Last member of the Kieffer commando who landed with his 176 French comrades in Normandy on June 6, 1944, hero of the Liberation, Léon Gautier has left us”, reacted the Head of State.
A national tribute should be paid to him in Normandy
Born in 1922 in Rennes, Léon Gautier joined London and General de Gaulle in July 1940 before going to fight in Cameroon, Congo, Syria, Lebanon, before the June 6 landing. He has never ceased to engage “for peace” ever since.
“The worst thing you can see is a war. Because we kill people opposite who have never done anything, who have a family, children. All this to achieve what? “said the Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor, dressed in a suit and tie in his wheelchair during a ceremony for his 100th birthday on October 27, 2022.
Father of two children, he had lived in Ouistreham since the 1990s. “Ouistreham is very sad today (Monday), we are somewhat orphaned by this father, this grandfather, a local hero known to all who transmitted certain number of values for freedom of which he was an ardent defender when he landed on our beaches”, declared Mr. Bail for his part. “State services confirmed to me that a national tribute would be paid to him in Normandy,” he added.
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