France's last surviving D-Day commando joins beach landing anniversary

French WWII veteran of the Commando Kieffer Leon Gautier poses for a photo on the day of 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 the World War II "D-Day" Normandy landings, in Colleville-Montgomery, France June 6, 2023. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS

COLLEVILLE-MONTGOMERY, France (Reuters) - Leon Gautier, the last surviving member of the French commandos who stormed the Normandy beaches defended by Hitler's troops in 1944, on Tuesday joined President Emmanuel Macron at a seafront ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Gautier, 100, presented a student marine commando with his green beret at a passing out parade at Colleville-Montgomery, near where a 17-year-old Gautier had landed on Sword Beach in a hail of enemy fire.