Talk:Maurice Floquet

Article rating

I disagree with the 'start' class rating. This is a "B"-class article. There is certainly more here than just 'start' material, although that is the easy answer when one doesn't want to be bothered with something.→ R Young {^yakł_talk} 04:51, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

You want sources? Here's some.

Copyright 2006 South Bend Tribune Corporation All Rights Reserved South Bend Tribune (Indiana)

February 17, 2006 Friday Marshall Edition

SECTION: COMMUNITY; Pg. E1

LENGTH: 1067 words

HEADLINE: From France to Plymouth; Veterans of World War I reply to letters from high school's French Club

BYLINE: By IDA CHIPMAN, Tribune Correspondent

BODY:

PLYMOUTH -- Monty Peden was astonished.

The French teacher at Plymouth High School had received his November 2005 issue of Paris Match magazine.

On the cover were six men, the only surviving French veterans of World War I.

The oldest was 111 years old. By comparison, the five others are youngsters -- averaging about 107 years old.

Peden looked them up on the Internet and obtained their addresses and dates of birth.

At the next meeting of the French Club, he told his students a little about each of the old soldiers.

"It was a nice opportunity for the students to learn about real French people and their history," Peden said.

"The club thought it would be interesting to contact the veterans as a gesture of respect and friendship," the teacher said.

Peden and the two co-chairs of the French Club, Maria Sanchez and Derrick Dickson, wrote letters in French congratulating each man for their military service and their remarkably long lives.

They told the veterans about Plymouth High School, where about 100 students are studying their language.

"Our high school also has a French Club, which organizes French dinners, has played petanque for 28 years and sings Christmas carols in French.

"In 1999," they wrote, "we transformed our classroom to create a French café, with round tables, street lamps and a large wall mural of Paris.

"Each day the students arrive in the 'Café Fleur de Lis' to learn French."

Monsieur Peden also told the gentlemen his students were very interested in the Francophone world and that each of their pictures were posted at the front of the classroom.

"We hope all of this interest will bring you a bit of pleasure," they wrote.

And it has.

Their first response came from Louis de Cazenave in a letter written by his son.

"My father and I were deeply touched by your letter," the son wrote.

Louis is 108 and still smokes a pipe. He served in the 5th Senegalese Battalion.

His worst memory is the "Chemin des Dames," where 150,000 of his comrades in arms were killed.

His career was in the railroads. Married and the father of three children, his wife died in 1973, at the age of 80.

The son told how his father left the war a patriot and became a pacifist.

"He never talked to us about the war, except to tell us not to call the Germans 'the Boches,' but to call them Germans."

The son said his father has led a simple and peaceful life.

"I think that is what has helped him live so long."

The most interesting response came from Jean Grélaud -- only it was the wrong Jean Grélaud.

The one in the photograph lives in Paris, but his address is unknown.

The Jean Grélaud who answered the letter is only 82, but, according to Peden and the students, is one of the most interesting of all.

He too has a history of service to his country. His father was born in 1892 and died in 1989. A soldier, he was maimed during World War I, losing a leg in the Battle of Marne in 1914.

The Jean Grélaud who answered the student's letter fought in World War II, wearing a U.S. soldier's uniform as part of the First French Army fighting with the Allied forces.

"Your mistake in the address was for me, a great pleasure and joy," he wrote. "I am amazed at your French Club and your interest in France. It is most touching to me."

Maurice Floquet, born in 1894, is now 111. The students aren't sure who answered the letter for him.

He was in the artillery and was injured seriously twice in the war -- first at LaSomme during hand-to-hand combat with bayonets, and then at Beausejour.

An enemy soldier saved his life in September 1914, removing a bloody rock from his throat that was obstructing his breathing.

A year later, back on the front lines, he was wounded in the head and left arm when a grenade exploded. A nurse in the ambulance found a piece of somebody else's cartilage lying on the floor and used it to patch the hole in Maurice's head. He still has a German bullet lodged in his arm.

After the war, he married and became a tractor repairman. He worked his garden until he was more than 100 years old and he still rides an exercise bike for 20 minutes a day in the backyard of his apartment.

He enjoys watching sports on TV and, being a little vain, doesn't like to wear his eye glasses.

He is allowed one full glass of red wine every day -- and champagne on special occasions.

"We hope to hear from the other three," Peden said. "Everyone is enjoying the experience."

Senior Katie DeVault agreed.

She is an advanced French student and secretary of the French Club. Katie had the opportunity to start learning French at Lincoln Junior High School -- unfortunately for upcoming students, classes there have since been discontinued.

Katie is now in her fourth year of study at PHS. She said she is really enjoying the communication with the World War I heroes.He was in the artillery and was injured seriously twice in the war -- first at LaSomme during hand-to-hand combat with bayonets, and then at Beausejour.

An enemy soldier saved his life in September 1914, removing a bloody rock from his throat that was obstructing his breathing.

A year later, back on the front lines, he was wounded in the head and left arm when a grenade exploded. A nurse in the ambulance found a piece of somebody else's cartilage lying on the floor and used it to patch the hole in Maurice's head. He still has a German bullet lodged in his arm.

After the war, he married and became a tractor repairman. He worked his garden until he was more than 100 years old and he still rides an exercise bike for 20 minutes a day in the backyard of his apartment.

He enjoys watching sports on TV and, being a little vain, doesn't like to wear his eye glasses.

He is allowed one full glass of red wine every day -- and champagne on special occasions.

"We hope to hear from the other three," Peden said. "Everyone is enjoying the experience."

Senior Katie DeVault agreed.

She is an advanced French student and secretary of the French Club. Katie had the opportunity to start learning French at Lincoln Junior High School -- unfortunately for upcoming students, classes there have since been discontinued.

Katie is now in her fourth year of study at PHS. She said she is really enjoying the communication with the World War I heroes.So does sophomore Ashley Hensley, who added she always has liked history and is "learning a lot through the letters about the French people."

Story ideas? Call Ida Chipman (574) 936-1124 or e-mail: ichipman@thenetanywhere.com

GRAPHIC: This is the cover of Paris Match magazine featuring the six surviving French soldiers who served in World War I. From left are Louis de Cazenave. 108; Leon Roger Weil, 109; Lazarre Ponticelli, 107; Ferdinand Gilson, 107; Maurice Floquet, 111; and Jean Grelaud, 107. Photo provided French Club members sophomore Ashley Hensley, left, and senior Katie DeVault, are enjoying their correspondence with the last surviving French soldiers of World War I. Monsieur Monty Peden, French teacher at Plymouth High School for the past 19 years, has spearheaded the effort. Tribune Photo/IDA CHIPMAN A little history World War I, which ran from August 1914 to November 1918, was particularly brutal for the French. By some estimates, the French suffered more than 6 million casualties, including 1,385,000 deaths. Nearly 75 percent of all French soldiers (and nearly 11 percent of the entire population) were killed or wounded in the war. By comparison, 250,000 French combatants died in World War II.

LOAD-DATE: March 10, 2006

http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1915/neuvecha.html

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