It was for them all, whether infantrymen or gunners or pioneers, that he fought with the bitter hatred he felt for the invader, with his youthful daring and the joys of his triumphs.  He knew that the battle would end fatally for him, no doubt, but knowing also that his war-bird was the instrument of saving thousands of lives, and seeing that his example called forth the noblest imitation, he remained true to his idea of self-sacrifice which he had formed a long time before, and which he saw develop with perfect calm.

Full of modesty as a soldier, but fully conscious of the greatness of his duties, he possessed the national qualities of endurance, perseverance, indifference to danger, and to these he added a most generous heart.

     During his short life he had not time enough to learn bitterness,
     or suffering, or disillusionment.

He passed straight from the school where he was learning the history of France to where he himself could add another page to it.  He went to the war driven by a mysterious power which I respect as death or genius ought to be respected.

     He was a powerful thought living in a body so delicate that I, who
     lived so close beside him, knew it would some day be slain by the
     thought.

The poor boy!  Other boys from every French school wrote to him every day.  He was their legendary ideal, and they felt all his emotions, sharing his joys as well as his dangers.  To them he was the living copy of the heroes whose exploits they read in their books.  His name is constantly on their lips, for they love him as they have been taught to love the purest glories of France.

Monsieur le depute, gain admittance for him to the Pantheon, where he has already been placed by the mothers and children of France.  There his protecting wings will not be out of place, for under that dome where sleep those who gave us our France, they will be the symbol of those who have defended her for us.

     Major Brocard.

These letters roused the enthusiasm of the Chamber, and the following resolution was passed by acclamation: 

     The government shall have an inscription placed in the Pantheon to
     perpetuate the memory of Captain Guynemer, the symbol of France’s
     highest aspirations.

On November 5 the foregoing letters were solemnly read aloud in every school, and Guynemer was presented as an example to all French schoolboys.

* * * * *

The army then prepared to celebrate Guynemer as a leader, and in default of any place suitable for such a ceremony they selected the camp of Saint-Pol-sur-Mer, whence Guynemer had started on his last flight.  On November 30 General Anthoine, commanding the First Army, before leaving the Flemish British sector where he had so brilliantly assisted in the success, decided to associate his men with the glorification of Guynemer.