France’s last D-Day commando celebrates its 79th anniversary. While passing out a procession at Colleville-Montgomery, Gautier, who is now 100 years old, gave his green beret to a student marine commando. This took place close to where, as a 21-year-old, Gautier had landed on Sword Beach in a hail of enemy fire.
During the Normandy landings, Gautier served as a member of the 177 French Green Berets led by Captain Philippe Kieffer and under the leadership of Captain Philippe Kieffer. To expel Nazi German soldiers from France, more than 150,000 Allied troops invaded the country.
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During the ceremony that took place on Tuesday, the young marine got down on one knee to give Gautier, who was sitting in a wheelchair to the side of Macron, the opportunity to adjust his beret.
In 2019, on the 75th anniversary of D-Day, Gautier retold the story of how French forces had been the first to wade chest-deep into Sword Beach. He did so to commemorate the event.”Your honor,” Gautier recalls British Colonel Robert Dawson saying to the French green berets during the conversation. “We arrived only a few seconds ahead of schedule. It was meant to be a gesture of symbolism.”
“By the end of the day, I didn’t have many bullets left.”
