French Command Soldier Veterans D-Day Last Died At The Age Of 100, President Macron: We Will Not Forget

Leon Gautier. (Wikimedia Commons/Alain Le Pape)

JAKARTA - Leon Gautier, the last member of the French command unit to participate in the biggest landing operation in history known as D-Day during World War II, died on Monday at the age of 100.

French President Emmanuel Macron described Gautier and his colleagues as "the hero of Liberation".

"We will not forget it," Macron wrote on Twitter.

Hubert Faure's death, one of the members of the unit in April 2021, made Gautier the only member of the command unit to jump into World War II who was still alive.

Last month, Gautier awarded his green beret to a marine student at a parade in Colleville-Montgomery, near where he landed on Sword Beach under enemy hail at the age of 21.

In a touching moment during the ceremony, the young marine knelt on one leg to allow Gautier, who was sitting in a wheelchair, straightening his baret.

In 2019, Gautier spoke with Reuters at his home located several hundred meters of the remnants of the German bunker he and his colleagues from the special forces of French Captain Philippe Kieffer secure, before entering the mainland.

He recalled deciding to join the army at a young age, when Hitler's troops occupied France in the Second World War, so he signed up in the navy.

He was on one of the last French warships to sail to England to join the Merdeka French Forces led by General Charles de Gaulle, as Germany swept northern France in 1940.

Decades later, he was still grappling with war violence.

"War is a misery. Not long ago, and maybe you thought it was ridiculous, but I would think 'perhaps I killed a young man, maybe I made orphans, make someone widowed or make a mother cry'," he insides.

"I don't want that. I'm not a bad person. You kill people who don't do anything to you. That's war and you do it for your country," he said.

In June 2021, President Macron awarded France the highest 'Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor', to Gautier, one of 177 French marine commandos selected to help spearhead the first wave of D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944.

« Nous ne sommes pas des héros, nous n’avons fait que notre devoir », répétait-il.Dernier membre du commando Kieffer qui débarqua avec ses 176 camarades français en Normandie le 6 juin 1944, héros de la Libération, Léon Gautier nous a quittés.Nous ne l’oublierons pas. pic.twitter.com/6IPx5mjoM7

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 3, 2023

Nous ne sommes pas des h\'eros, nous n\'avons fait que notre devoir, rep\'etait-il.Dernier branre du commando Kieffer qui d\'ebarqua avec ses 176 fran julais en Normandie le 6 juin 1944, h\'eros de la Libration, L\'eon Gautier nous a quint\'es.Nous ne lublierons fit. pic.twitter.com/6IPx5mjoM7