Bernard Dargols, only French GI to fight at Omaha Beach in WWII, dies at 98

Former soldier, whose family has Jewish origins, left France in 1938 for an internship in the US and enlisted after seeing France’s Vichy leader shake hands with Adolf Hitler

In this photo dated May 8, 2014, Bernard Dargols poses during an interview with the Associated Press at his home in La Garenne-Colombes, outside Paris, France (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
In this photo dated May 8, 2014, Bernard Dargols poses during an interview with the Associated Press at his home in La Garenne-Colombes, outside Paris, France (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

CAEN, France — Bernard Dargols, the only French soldier to fight in an American uniform as Allied forces stormed the coast of Normandy at Omaha Beach in a battle heralding the end of World War II, has died aged 98, the Caen Memorial war museum said Tuesday.

“We are deeply saddened by Bernard’s passing… surrounded by his loved ones, a few days from his 99th birthday. We will miss him terribly,” the museum said on Twitter.

His death comes just a few weeks before France is hosting ceremonies to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings, which are to be attended by US President Donald Trump.

Dargols had left France in 1938 for an internship in the United States, and after seeing France’s Vichy leader Philippe Petain shake hands with Adolf Hitler, he enlisted in the US Army, later obtaining joint French-American citizenship.

German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, right, shaking hands with Head of State of Vichy France Marshall Philippe Petain, in occupied France, October 24, 1940. (AP Photo)

He was just 24 when he crossed the Channel from England to France on June 8, 1944, two days after Operation Overlord was launched to help wrest back France from Germany.

“Some GIs were killed in the water. By what miracle was I going to make these last few meters” to the beach, he recalled in a 2012 memoir written with a grand-daughter.

“If the Liberty Ship had been able to quickly go into reverse, I think I would have asked them to do it,” he said.

A jeep named Bastille

A few hours later, aboard a jeep nicknamed “La Bastille,” he found himself surrounded by his fellow Frenchmen who couldn’t believe their ears.

“What a feeling to hear French spoken, to be taken in the arms of all these people older than me, calling me their liberator,” he recalled.

“If I had kept all the bottles of calvados brandy they were giving me, I think I could have opened my own specialist shop!”

US reinforcements wade through the surf from a landing craft in the days following D-Day and the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France at Normandy in June 1944 during World War II (AP Photo/Bert Brandt, File)

Dargols, whose family had Jewish origins, had an aunt and uncle who were deported to the Nazi death camps where they died, though his mother managed to remain in Paris during France’s occupation.

After the war he took over his father’s sewing machine shop, but he often spoke about the bloodshed he witnessed, giving interviews to ensure younger generations never forgot the high price paid.

“Today we’re seeing the signs of anti-Semitism,” he told AFP in a 2014 interview.

“I want young people to fight back against it.”

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