This Wednesday, February 16 at the Deflandre barracks, the civil and military authorities paid tribute to three gendarmes who died while carrying out their mission and cited the “ordinary heroes who impose in the discretion and humility of daily service”, according to the words of the message. of the Minister of the Interior.

A new format has been established for the tribute to the dead in service of the National Gendarmerie: the ceremony has been extended to personnel in service to now pay tribute “to the dead and heroes of the gendarmerie” even if the names of the soldiers who died during the last year obviously remain mentioned.

Through this new symbolism, the National Gendarmerie intends to remember the absent, victims of duty, and salute the heroes of everyday life. In some regions, gendarmes who have performed acts of heroism have been rewarded

This Wednesday February 16, 2022, anniversary day of the law of February 16, 1791 providing for the National Gendarmerie during the early days of the French Revolution, the tribute ceremony took place on the esplanade of the Deflandre barracks, in Dijon, including plus a hundred soldiers and fifty civilians.

The tribute of the civil and military authorities

Major General Édouard Hubscher, Commander of the Gendarmerie Region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Brigadier General Pascal Hurtault, Commander of the Dijon Gendarmerie School, and Christophe Marot, Secretary General of the Prefecture of Côte-d’ Or, representing the prefect, performed the ceremony.

Among the civilians were notably present Rémi Delatte (LR, Free), deputy for Côte-d’Or, Denis Hameau (PS), delegated councilor of Dijon Métropole, Benoît Bordat (Cap 21), deputy mayor of Dijon delegate to the former fighters, Viviane Vuillermot (LCOP), departmental councilor of the Côte-d’Or, Bruno Laplane, president of the Dijon court, and Nathalie Albert-Moretti, rector of the Dijon academy.

In particular, soldiers from the Dijon company, the departmental road safety squadron (EDSR), the Dijon Gendarmerie School, as well as a platoon of gendarmerie cadets and flag bearers of patriotic associations took part. . The troops were under the orders of Colonel Fabrice Jauffred, head of the employment division.

“The heroism of the gendarme is our heritage”

After the salute to the flag and the review of the troops, Chief Warrant Officer Florence Thimonier read the “February 16 story” which returned to the number of gendarmes fallen during the conflicts since the First World War: “the heroism of the policeman is our heritage”.

Three gendarmes have died in the exercise of their duties since January 1, 2021: the maréchale des logis-chef Jennifer Benet, of the command group of the departmental gendarmerie company of Hyères, on September 28, 2021 at the age of 36 years, Constable Gaëtan Binet, from the Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine local brigade, on October 7, 2021 at the age of 27, and Chief Marshal Claude Ruocco, from the surveillance and d ‘ intervention of the Dardilly gendarmerie, on January 15, 2022 at the age of 53.

Three wreaths were laid on behalf of the retired gendarmerie associations, the prefect and the gendarmerie region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

“Protect or neutralize, prevent or rekindle but serve”

After the ringtone to the Dead and the Marseillaise, Christophe Marot read the message from the Minister of the Interior for whom the three gendarmes who died in service have in common “to embody the idea of ​​the mission fulfilled to the end, to testify nobility of service, courage, commitment”.

The Minister addressed the military directly, evoking a tribute that recalls “the demands of your vocation as a policeman: to serve, to protect or to neutralize, to prevent or to repress, but to serve, in mainland France or overseas, in a brigade or in a squadron. , day and night, to serve, for order and security, for the population and by the gendarme, to serve”. “The Nation has confidence in you”, he underlined.

Through his text, Gérald Darmanin also paid tribute “to the ordinary heroes who owed in the discretion and humility of daily service, for public peace and the maintenance of order, for France and the French”. “Be proud to serve in this uniform as the Republic is proud of the National Gendarmerie,” he concluded.

The Song of the National Gendarmerie, sung by the choir of the French army (find on video), retained in the loudspeakers of the Deflandre barracks before the ceremony ended with a final Marseillaise.

Jean-Christophe Tardivon