“Tribute to the supporters of life”: the Legion of Honor awarded to the “saviors” of the Bataclan | EUROtoday

“That night, in the absolute darkness, something stronger than fear rose as terror struck: women and men made the choice to act, to save, to protect.” On Tuesday April 21, Emmanuel Macron introduced the Legion of Honor to 59 members of the police who intervened on the Bataclan on November 13, 2015.

Welcomed with applause and the music “Shooting Stars” sung in November by survivors and households of victims of November 13, are cops from the Police Prefecture, the Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI) of the Raid and the Paris Fire Brigade who stormed the Bataclan in addition to two presidents of victims’ associations, Life for Paris and 13onze15.

The president was then joined, to current the next decorations, by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Interior Laurent Nuñez and Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin in addition to political leaders in workplace on the time of the assaults: former President François Hollande, former Prime Ministers Manuel Valls and Bernard Cazeneuve, who was in Beauvau throughout the assaults, but additionally the previous mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and the previous Paris police chief Michel Cadot.

Newly embellished, Brigadier Joe was a part of the Raid unit that intervened on the Bataclan that night. “I was with the rifle, so it was protecting the entire column which was progressing all along the track, at least up to the scene – so getting as close as possible to the crisis,” he instructed journalists, describing a “nightmare”.

The Legion of Honor represents for him “an immense honor and great pride”. “It’s really nice for us, for the service, the family who encourages us,” he added, moved.

Several cops from the “BAC de nuit” of Paris, the primary to enter the besieged Bataclan that night and since contemplating themselves to be “forgotten”, should not amongst these embellished. “They must be fully recognized, as I asked the Minister of the Interior this fall, and I know that they are working on it. I hope that this will be done within the year,” declared Emmanuel Macron.

“We forget no place, no face, no broken history,” he stated, additionally saying his presence in Nice on July 14, on the event of the tenth anniversary of the assault which killed 86 individuals there, “to continue to carry this demand for memory and recognition.”

On Friday, November 13, 2015, commandos managed by the Islamic State (IS) group focused the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, bar and restaurant terraces, and the Bataclan live performance corridor in Paris, murdering 130 individuals and injuring tons of of others.

(AFP)