What do you think of this letter written by a soldier, a member of the French Resistance during the Second World War?

[Julie07]

My dearest Mélinée, my beloved little orphan,
In a few hours, I shall no longer be of this world. We are to be executed by firing squad this afternoon at three o’clock. It comes upon me like an accident in my life; I cannot quite believe it, and yet I know that I shall never see you again.

What can I write to you? Everything within me is confused, and yet at the same time, everything is painfully clear.

I enlisted in the Army of Liberation as a volunteer soldier, and I die just short of Victory and of the goal we pursued. Happiness to those who will survive us and taste the sweetness of tomorrow’s Freedom and Peace. I am certain that the French people, and all fighters for Liberty, will know how to honor our memory with dignity.

At the moment of death, I proclaim that I bear no hatred toward the German people, nor toward anyone at all. Each will receive what they deserve, whether as punishment or as reward. The German people, like all other peoples, will live in peace and fraternity after the war, which will not last much longer. Happiness to all…

I deeply regret not having made you happy. I would so dearly have wished to have a child with you, as you always wanted. I therefore beg you—without fail—to marry after the war and to have a child, for my happiness and to fulfill my last wish. Marry someone who can truly make you happy. All my belongings and all my affairs I leave to you, to your sister, and to my nephews. After the war, you will be able to claim your right to a war pension as my wife, for I die as a regular soldier of the French Army of Liberation.

With the help of friends who wish to honor me, you will have my poems and writings published, for they are worthy of being read. If possible, you will bring my keepsakes to my parents in Armenia. I shall die shortly with my twenty-three comrades, with the courage and serenity of a man whose conscience is at peace, for personally I have harmed no one—and if I have, it was without hatred.

[Rangers]

A man who accepts his fate, leaves nothing unsaid, pours his heart out and shows how much he truly loved her and how sorry he was that he wouldn't come home, yet still not hate the Germans.

He hit every note that most generals and emperors can only dream of possessing such humility and care, yet a willingness to fight for what he believed in.

So wasteful he was just resistance, he had the makings of an emperor in his own right, but of course we don't choose when and where war comes when we're the ones under attack, do we, now?

[AviatorTom]

It's a touching letter by a man who accepts what will happen to him, with no animosity towards the people who will execute him. That indicates true strength.

[AviatorTom]

Thanks for MHO

[purplepoppy]

I think it's a good example of how the idea of the French all being cheese eating surrender monkeys is wrong. The government may have fell but the people didn't.

[BCRanger10]

You couldn't write a more beautiful ending to a man's life. That is how a man dies.

[Anonymous]

That's fucked up and it's a fucked up last will & testament

[strateguy632]

Beautiful!

[WhitneySnow]

Amazing