94-Year-Old Moroccan War Hero Finally Awarded Croix de Guerre for Indochina Bravery

Jilal Douach received this distinction for his heroism during the Indochina War on Monday, during a highly emotional ceremony that took place in the commune of Altillac in Corrèze where he resides. The nonagenarian still has intact in his memory the memories of these events that date back 74 years. "I was working with the French army, and I was happy about that. I was wounded, I got out of it by a hair, but it’s okay, it’s not serious," he confides to France 3.

After a serious gunshot wound to the stomach, the former Moroccan soldier and member of the Senegalese Tirailleurs corps returned to the front in Indochina to defend France at the risk of his life. The Moroccan is the pride of his son. "He shed his blood for France, for me, he is a hero, he is an example. I try to be up to his level, but it’s not easy," admits Ameur, who became a volunteer firefighter in Corrèze to honor his father.

It is actually thanks to him that Jilal received this decoration. During his training, he met a former soldier who did research on his father’s acts of bravery. "I requested all the official documents from the General Secretariat of the Armed Forces, and that’s when I discovered that he had received three citations, with the award of the Croix de Guerre for external operations, which is a very high military distinction," explains Alexis Bonnafou, a former combatant and trainer with the firefighters of Corrèze.

Jillali Douach was unaware of the existence of these distinctions. The nonagenarian had left the army in 1956, at the time of the end of the French protectorate in Morocco. "The nation knows how to recognize its prestigious soldiers at all times," declares Marion Le Savouroux, the chief of staff of the prefect of Corrèze, during the ceremony to award the Croix de Guerre to the former combatant.