"A committed, united and united Nation": this is the theme of the French national holiday, organized on July 14, 2020 in the shadow of the Covid-19. The Parisian ceremony presided over by the Head of State, Emmanuel Macron, will particularly highlight the participation of the armies in the fight against the coronavirus within Operation Resilience, before ending with a broader tribute to the carers, applauded every night of the confinement period by the French.

Unpublished format

The head of state will arrive at around 10:40 a.m. in front of the stands at Place de la Concorde, where 2,000 soldiers will parade in circles, half as much as for the usual descent from the Champs-Élysées. Without mask, but with sanitary distances. No tanks, no troops on foot descending from the Arc de Triomphe this year. On the other hand, the air parade was maintained, with around twenty helicopters and around fifty planes, including an A400M transport device and an A330 Air Force supply plane, used at the height of the health crisis to transfer patients with Covid, in order to unclog the most saturated French regions.

In the stands, 2,500 guests will be present, of which 1,400 will represent the French on the front line during the epidemic: caregivers, family of caregivers who died from the Covid-19, teachers, cashiers, funeral officers, police, gendarmes, firefighters, salaried employees. 'mask or test factories. The event, which usually brings together a compact crowd, will also not be open to the public.

Four European countries (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg) will be symbolically represented, to thank them for having taken care of 161 French patients in their hospitals, when the resuscitation services in eastern France were saturated.

Tribute to de Gaulle

The 2020 edition of July 14 will begin with a tribute to General Charles de Gaulle, whose memory is celebrated this year on the occasion of a triple anniversary: ​​the 130th of his birth, the 50th of his death, and the 80th of the appeal of June 18, 1940.

At the opening of the festivities, the famous Patrouille de France will draw in the sky its emblematic plume of blue-white-red smoke, followed by Rafale and Mirage 2000 from the three fighter squadrons heirs of the traditions of the Free French Air Force. They will be accompanied by two Typhoons from the British Air Force. Four Rafale Marine from the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will close this first aerial painting. 

Tributes to the mobilized army services and to the medical staff

The Armed Forces Health Service (SSA), very mobilized at the peak of the pandemic, will be particularly honored during this ceremony. The SSA, which represents 1% of the care offer in France, has taken care of 3% of patients suffering from the virus in intensive care, in its eight hospitals and via all-round interventions, while continuing to fulfill its primary mission: medical support for the armed forces and their wounded.

Beyond the medical staff, the ceremony will highlight the multiple military units that have worked to fight the coronavirus under the umbrella of Operation Resilience, launched on March 25 by Emmanuel Macron. Among the troops represented will be the medical regiment of the Army, mobilized to open a resuscitation medical structure under tent in Mulhouse, or the 2nd regiment of dragons, specialized in nuclear, radiological, biological and chemical threats, which has ensured the disinfection of infrastructures and military means of transportation made available to patients with Covid-19. Also present will be Air Force personnel who have transferred patients by air, as well as Marseille firefighters and crew members of helicopter carriers who have conveyed medical equipment and reinforcements Overseas. .

A tribute to the entire medical, civilian and military world will close the ceremony to the sound of the Marseillaise. The Patrouille de France will make an exceptional second visit in their honor.

With AFP 

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