Léon Gautier, the last survivor of the 177 Frenchmen who landed on June 6, 1944 in Normandy, northwestern France, fHe passed away this Monday at the age of 100, announced the Memorial de Caen.
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“‘We are not heroes, we are only doing our duty,’ he repeated. (…) Léon Gautier has left us. We will not forget him,” President Emmanuel Macron tweeted. Gautier was the last member of the Kieffer commando, a battalion of marine riflemen that landed on the coast of northwestern France.
The man died Monday at 07:40 pm in a hospital in Caen (northwest), the mayor of Ouistreham, Romain Bail, told AFP. Léon Gautier was born in 1922 and joined the forces of General Charles De Gaulle in July 1940, before fighting in Africa and landing in Normandy.
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After his participation in World War II to liberate France from the occupation of Nazi Germany, he never stopped advocating “for peace”. “The worst thing we can see is a war, because we kill people who have done nothing, who have families, children. To achieve what?” he said in October.
«Nous ne sommes pas des héros, nous n’avons fait que notre devoir», répétait-il.
Today’s member of the commando Kieffer who débarqua with his 176 French comrades in Normandy on June 6, 1944, heroes of the Liberation, Léon Gautier nous a quittés.
Nous ne l’oublierons pas. pic.twitter.com/6IPx5mjoM7
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 3, 2023
This father of two has lived in Ouistreham since the 1990s. In 2021, he was recognized as a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honor
AFP
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