Laurence Huon summed up the subject: “For three years, we have implemented the Defense class in partnership with the army GRS SO at the Nansouty barracks in Bordeaux. We teach students the values of the Republic, the duty of transmission and memory of French history, as each student has a family member who experienced war. We participate in the commemorations of November 11th and May 8th.”
83 Defense classes
Dominique Perrichon, the departmental head of the French Memory, delivered a speech emphasizing the importance of the patriotic flag handed over to the François Mitterrand middle school for three years. It is the flag of the veterans, deportees, resistants to forced labor (STO) and employees of PTT.
“We are here to give a second life to this flag, we will take care of it as it is a great honor for our school. We are committed to passing on its values to the students,” emotionally declared the principal Caroline Nowotny.
General Stéphane Groen added at the end of the ceremony: “It is important to have Defense classes in middle and high schools, we have 83 in the Bordeaux academy. We are working with the rector to promote them. It is always a good thing to see young people committing to the service of the country, studying the values of the Republic and honoring this flag in this period of serious crises.”
