MEET COLONEL ÉMILE RENÉ GUEGUEN

Émile René Gueguen, Grand Officer, was born on February 13, in Morlaix, Brittany. He was 15 when the Germans triumphantly entered his hometown. His decision to join the Resistance determined his fate. Thus, on July 6, 1944, Maquisard Gueguen was captured in a German ambush. On his way to torture and certain death, he jumped from a sidecar and escaped.

On December 10, 1944, the Germans launched an attack on a hill occupied by then Lieutenant Gueguen and a group on 30 high-school classmates near the town of Lorient. To everyone's astonishment, the poorly armed adolescents pushed back 600 seasoned fighters of the 683^rd Battalion of the Kriegsmarine, following six hours of combat under heavy fire. Convinced that the unit would not withstand such a brutal attack, Allied Colonel Juteau (118 RI) ordered the other troops to retreat, including an American artillery unit. Some 200 Germans were killed, wounded and captured.

From 1950 to 1952, Gueguen, served in Vietnam. In charge of the 16^th Company of parachutists, the most decorated company in the French army, 26-year-old Gueguen identified with Bonaparte, stating, "I know that Napoleon never had and long-term ambition. Those that are often on the battlefields have just one ambition : to do their job as best as they can because they know the sun will rise the next day... but maybe not for them.

During the Algerian war in 1958, captain Gueguen and his Company, 9 RCP, scattered the Shock Battalion of the ALN (4^th Faïlek) that had just destroyed the 3rd Company of Captain Beaumont.

Respected by his German, Vietnamese and Algerian adversaries alike for his chivalry in combat, Colonel Gueguen was admired for his war record throughout the French army and was decorated 12 times with the Croix de guerre. An accomplished athlete, he formed the French pentathlon team that won an Olympic medal in Mexico. Despite the promise of major promotions, he left the army at the age of 44 to head the International Preparatory Olympic Center of Vittel.

Since settling in La Jolla, CA, in 1988, he is involved in promoting the image of France, French-American friendship, and the memory of Napoleon, who, he insists, "is misunderstood in this vast and beautiful country immersed in the English language and culture".

His painstaking efforts made it possible for 40 veteran US and British parachutists to jump over Sainte-Mère-Église on June 5, 1994, for the 50^th anniversary of D-Day. This highlight of the festivities was applauded by the White-House, the Pentagon, the President and the Prime Minister of France.

One of the youngest men to be made Chevalier, Officer, and then Commandeur, of the Legion of Honor, Colonel Guegeun was elevated to the dignity of Grand Officier by President Chirac on October 15, 1996, in a Ceremony at the Cour d'Honneur des Invalides, where Napoleon decorated his marshals on July 15, 1804. His autobiography Volontaire was published by Grasset, Paris, in 1986.

We are very proud to count Émile Gueguen as an Honorary Member of our Society.

From left to right : colonel Émile René Guegeun, Special Historical Consultant of the INS and close associate of INS President Ben Weider

At his left are : President Ben Weider, Prince Murat and Prince Charles Napoléon