July 14, 2011 - A Day of Mourning

For those of you who saw nothing of the parade on the Champs-Elysées today, here is a twelve-minute video. I regret I do not have time to translate the commentary, but you will enjoy just watching. Not long into the video you will see the "stars" of today's event, the overseas units. The Antilles and Guyana, Polynesia, New Caledonia, and the Indian Ocean territories (Reunion and Mayotte) opened the ceremonies.

According to Le Figaro:

(…) two hundred eighty underprivileged youth from overseas were at the head of the parade. They benefit from a measure called "adapted military service" (SMA) created fifty years ago after General de Gaulle visited the Antilles. The measure allows three thousand young persons who have family or scholastic difficulties to get back on track and to learn a trade under the auspices of the military. Ages 17 - 26, a quarter of whom are women, these young persons are not sent into combat, but they participate in rescue operations as in Haiti in 2010.

For the first time, the military rugby team called the "Quinze du Pacifique" consisting of forty Polynesian soldiers performed the "Haka", a ritual dance of the Maori people.

All the armed forces are represented. And near the end the police and firemen also march. Some of the faces are deliberately smudged throughout the video. I assume this is some kind of security measure.

But despite the festive air, this was a day of mourning for France. The press reports stress that this July 14 is dedicated to the memory of the Frenchmen killed in Afghanistan. Five were killed on Wednesday, the eve of Bastille Day, and a sixth today (Thursday).