Emmanuel Macron visits the great war invalids

Emmanuel Macron on Thursday visited veterans who have been wounded “in the service of the Fatherland” in the conflicts since the Second World War, and their caregivers at the Hôtel des Invalides, in Paris.

After having presided over a traditional takeover of arms and made a series of decorations in the main courtyard, the Head of State went for the first time since the start of the five-year term to the National Institution of Invalides ( Ini).

80 boarders, aged 31 to 105

Accompanied by Geneviève Darrieussecq, Minister Delegate for Veterans Affairs, he spoke with some of the some 80 residents, aged 31 to 105, including ten women, who are welcomed in this unique institution in France. Among them is a participant in the Landing in Normandy in 1944, veterans of the conflicts in Indochina and Algeria, soldiers wounded in Opex (external operations) in Afghanistan or the Sahel, as well as victims of attacks, such as those of 2015.

Meeting between the President of the Republic @EmmanuelMacron and the residents of the@INI_Invalides, symbol of the Nation and the duty of repair ???? pic.twitter.com/gklAXiDIsn

– National Institution of Invalides (@INI_Invalides) July 8, 2021

“The Nation watches over them”

We owe so much to our wounded and the Nation is watching over them, wrote Emmanuel Macron on the guest book of Ini, whose head of state has been, since its creation nearly 350 years ago, the tutelary protector.

He notably spoke with one of the residents, Elisabeth Graf, 99, who had joined the Resistance in 1942 before being arrested by the Gestapo the following year and deported to Germany. He decorated her with the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit.

He also spoke with caregivers from the three divisions of Ini: the medico-surgical center, the research center on equipment for the disabled and the residents’ center which accommodates severely disabled holders of a military disability pension. (at least 85% disability) in its 81 medical rooms.

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