Marcel Bigeard

Marcel Bigeard
Marcel Bigeard during his military service
Nickname(s)	Bruno
Born	February 14, 1916 (1916-02-14) Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle
Died	June 18, 2010 (2010-06-19) (aged 94) Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle
Service / branch	French Army Marine Troops
Years of service	1936–38 1939–76
Rank	Général de corps d'armée
Unit	23rd Fortress Infantry Regiment (23e RIF) 79th Fortress Infantry Regiment (79e RIF) 23rd Colonial Infantry Regiment (23e RIC) 10th Parachute Division
Commands	3rd Thai Battalion Indochinese Marching Battalion 6th Colonial Parachute Battalion (1952–1954) Airborne Groupment 3rd Colonial Parachute Regiment (1955–1958) 6th Colonial Infantry Outremer Regiment (6e RIAOM) 20th Parachute Brigade (France) 25th Parachute Brigade (France) Area Forces of the Indian Ocean 4e RM
Battles / wars	World War II Battle of France First Indochina War Operation Castor Battle of Dien Bien Phu Algerian War Battle of Algiers Battle of Agounennda Battle of Timimoun
Awards	Grand Cross of the Légion d'honneur Croix de Guerre 1939–1945 Croix de guerre des TOE Cross for Military Valour Resistance Medal Escapees' Medal Colonial Medal 1939–1945 Commemorative war medal Indochina Campaign commemorative medal North Africa Security and Order Operations Commemorative Medal Insignia for the Military Wounded Order of the Dragon of Annam Order of the Million Elephants and the White Parasol (Laos) Distinguished Service Order (UK) Legion of Merit (US) Order of Merit (Senegal) Order of Merit (Togo) Order of Merit (Comores) Order of Merit (Mauritania) Order of Merit (Centrafrique) Order of Merit (Thailand)
Other work	Bank clerk, author, Deputy

Marcel Bigeard (French pronunciation: [maʁsɛl biʒaʁ]; February 14, 1916 – June 18, 2010), personal radio call-sign "Bruno", was a French military officer and politician who fought in World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War. He was one of the commanders in the Battle of Dien Bien Phu and is thought by many to have been a dominating influence on French "unconventional" warfare thinking from that time onwards.^[1]: 167 He was one of the most decorated officers in France, and is particularly noteworthy because of his rise from being a regular soldier in 1936 to ultimately concluding his career in 1976 as a Lieutenant General and serving in the government of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

After leaving the military, Bigeard embarked on a political career serving as deputy of Meurthe-et-Moselle from 1978 to 1988 and became a prolific author. His final years were marked by a controversy surrounding allegations that he had overseen torture during the Algerian conflict; he denied the allegations of personal involvement, though defended the use of torture during the war as a necessary evil.