The last surviving member of the French 1er Bataillon de Fusiliers Marins Commandos, who fought during the 1944 Allied invasion of Normandy, passed away at age 100.
Ouistreham Mayor Romain Bail announced Monday the death of Léon Gautier, who lived in the small French coastal community where Allies landed on June 6, 1944, during his last years.
Gautier, hailing from the Fougères in Brittany, joined 177 commandos under the control of Capt. Philippe Kieffer spent 78 days straight on the front lines, with only two dozen avoiding death or injury, including Gautier.
He later hurt his left ankle jumping off a train and sat out much of the rest of the war, with the nagging injury continuing until he died.
"'We are not heroes. We only did our duty,'" French President Emmanuel Macron quoted Gautier in a Twitter post. "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 will not forget him," he added.
The veteran had just presented a student marine commando with his green beret at a passing-out parade in Colleville-Montgomery last month, near the same spot where he had landed on Sword Beach, The Guardian noted.
Gautier devoted his life after the war to ensuring lessons from it were not forgotten, helping establish a museum in Ouistreham commemorating the French commandos on D-Day.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.