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French Rugby Team Face Firing Squad
Entertaining news from the Rugby World Cup. On Saturday, hosts France met Argentina in the opening game. In lieu of the typical team talk coaches give their first fifteen, France's coach Bernard Laporte asked a player to read from the final letter 17 year old resistance hero Guy Moquet wrote to his parents the night before his execution by a Vichy firing squad in 1941.
Here's a translation:
My darling Maman, my adored brother, my much loved Papa,
I am going to die! What I ask of you, especially you Maman, is to be brave. I am, and I want to be, as brave as all those who have gone before me. Of course, I would have preferred to live. But what I wish with all my heart is that my death serves a purpose. I didn’t have time to embrace Jean. I embraced my two brothers Roger and Rino. As for my real brother, I cannot embrace him, alas! I hope all my clothes will be sent back to you. They might be of use to Serge, I trust he will be proud to wear them one day. To you, my Papa to whom I have given many worries, as well as to my Maman, I say goodbye for the last time. Know that I did my best to follow the path that you laid out for me.
A last farewell to all my friends, to my brother whom I love very much. May he study hard to become a man later on. Seventeen and a half! My life has been short! I have no regrets, except that I am leaving you.
I am going to die with Tintin, Michels. Maman, what I ask you, what I want you to promise me, is to be brave and to overcome your sorrow. I cannot put any more. I am leaving you all, Maman, Serge, Papa, I embrace you with all my child’s heart.
Courage!
Your Guy who loves you.
Your correspondent can hardly type this out without bawling - what must France's rugbymen have made of it?
The letter by the young Communist has been much in the news recently. Hours after his inauguration, President Nicolas Sarkozy declared he would make the letter a mandatory text in French schools, declaring that it "profoundly moved" him.
M Laporte, perhaps, was inspired by his boss-in-waiting. When the tournament ends, the rugby coach will join Sarkozy's cabinet as Sports Minister.
Did the letter have the desired effect? For France, sadly no: They were beaten 12-17 by Argentina.
