![]() ![]() Charles de Gaulle was rallying his countrymen. When France fell in June that year to the Nazi blitzkrieg, he shipped off to England, where French Gen. 27, 1922, in the Brittany village Fougeres, and grew up amid bitter memories of World War I.Īt 17, he joined the navy in 1940. “He was the hero of 1944, the hero of June 6, but also the little old guy that everyone knew.” “He was a father to us, a grandfather to us, an important figure of daily life,” the mayor said. ![]() He devoted much of his life after the war making sure that lessons from the war aren’t forgotten by giving interviews, taking part in commemorations and helping put together the museum in Ouistreham that commemorates the French commandos who helped liberate Normandy. “The younger generations have to be told, they need to know,” Gautier told the Associated Press in 2019. He was also an important voice of memory of World War II, and of warning. Gautier was a nationally known figure, and met with President Emmanuel Macron as part of commemorations for the 79th anniversary of D-Day last month. ( Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP, File) Ludovic Marin/AP Show More Show Less and other Allied forces in the 1944 D-Day invasion to wrest Normandy from Nazi control, died Monday Jat 100 years old. ![]() Leon Gautier, the last member of an elite French unit that joined U.S. Francois Mori/AP Show More Show Less 3 of4 FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with Leon Gautier, a French WWII veteran of the Commando Kieffer, during a ceremony in tribute to the 177 French members of the "Commando Kieffer" Fusiliers Marins commando unit who took part in the Normandy landings, as part of the 79th anniversary of D-Day, in Colleville-Montgomery, Normandy, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. ( Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP, File) Ludovic Marin/AP Show More Show Less 2 of4 FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron, right, holds the hand of French war veteran Leon Gautier, a member of the Kieffer commando, during a ceremony to pay homage to the Kieffer commando, Thursday, Jin Colleville-Montgomery, Normandy. 1 of4 FILE - French WWII veteran of the Commando Kieffer Leon Gautier attends a ceremony in tribute to the 177 French members of the "Commando Kieffer" Fusiliers Marins commando unit who took part in the Normandy landings, as part of the 79th anniversary of D-Day, in Colleville-Montgomery, Normandy, Tuesday, June 6, 2023. ![]()
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