On June 6, 1944, 177 members of Commando Kieffer landed on the Normandy shore designated “Sword Beach.” These men were recruited from around the former French Empire, trained at British ...

Leon Gautier was one of only 177 elite French troops who were able to join the brazen Allied attack on Nazi-occupied France in 1944. ... and French WWII veteran of the Commando Kieffer, ...

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 ...

Gautier was one of 177 French green berets under the command of Captain Philippe Kieffer who took part in the Normandy landings. More than 150,000 allied troops invaded France to drive out Nazi ...

During the 12-week Battle of Normandy, 140 of the 177-man Kieffer commandos were killed or seriously wounded. Advertisement Hubert Émile Faure was born May 28, 1914, in Neuvic, southwestern France.

French President Emmanuel Macron and French WWII veteran of the Commando Kieffer Leon Gautier walk during a ceremony in tribute to the 177 French members of the "Commando Kieffer" Fusiliers Marins ...

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 ...

The last surviving member of an elite French unit that joined U.S. and other Allied forces in the D-Day invasion has died. Leon Gautier was 100 years old. The death was announced by the mayor of Ou… ...