Testimonials. Legion of Honor: "My Mayor," "Jean-Marc Jancovici"... These are the people you would decorate

If you had the power to honor an exemplary career, which person would you single out? Ministers are generally the ones who propose names for the Legion of Honor , but French citizens can also suggest a person they consider deserving, provided they have the support of 50 signatories. This is an approach that the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor wants to encourage , in particular to combat a "worrying reduction" in the number of people decorated in recent years.

A decree of February 20 also specifies that 100 Knight's Crosses of the Legion of Honor will be reserved for the award period from January ^1, 2025 to December 31, 2026, for these citizen suggestions, including "five for French citizens abroad." A specific contingent of 200 other holders of the National Order of Merit will also be reserved for candidates resulting from this citizen initiative.

A desire to better represent society that Stéphanie, a 59-year-old from Isère, approves of: "The Legion of Honor must be earned through acts of bravery, heroism, patriotism, courage, and hard work... I don't understand why we decorate everything, often stars whose only merit is their success. This distinction has lost its aura," she says. An opinion shared by Gérard, 73, from Berstett (Bas-Rhin): "We need to stop the cronyism and give this distinction to those who truly deserve it. Firefighters, police officers, researchers, doctors, nurses, and all those who save lives. We need to stop handing it out like hotcakes to artists, athletes, politicians, and all those wealthy people who are just doing their job," he says angrily.

Some of our readers already have a very clear idea of the name they would push to obtain this distinction. "José Bové," says Sara, 52, from Haute-Savoie: "I am against forms of violence, but without his fight, we would have let the lobbies impose GMOs on us without reacting," she argues. For Alexandre, 57, from Bischheim (Bas-Rhin), it would be necessary to reward actors in the fight against climate change: "I could cite Jean-Marc Jancovici . But also Nicolas Cruaud (too bad, he is not Alsatian), creator of Néolithe and inventor of a process of fossilization of waste, usable in the construction industry. That is an action that deserves a major reward!"

But it's mostly people unknown to the general public that our readers would like to see rewarded. Frédéric, 64, from Dijon (Côte-d'Or), quotes his general practitioner: "Lionel Chauve, who practiced his profession until he was 91, without sparing his availability." Blanche, 72, from Essey-lès-Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle), has only one name on her lips: "Michel Breuille, the mayor of my city, who fights for his fellow citizens and who deserves more than these spiteful politicians who ignore poor people."

For his part, another reader from Aspach-le-Bas (Haut-Rhin), who wishes to remain anonymous, would propose the candidacy of "Christine Scheuch, current president of the Saint-Sauveur Foundation. Her work has helped to revive this structure. Today, the foundation employs more than 700 people in establishments for people with disabilities, the elderly... This woman has spent her whole life serving the weakest."

Without naming names, Bernard, 70, from Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), would like to see "soldiers, police officers, gendarmes, firefighters, caregivers, and teachers" honored. Patrice, 71, from Chazay-d'Azergues (Rhône), cites "mayors, volunteer firefighters, and youth workers." More unexpected is the proposal from Déborah, 37, from Notre-Dame-de-Mésage (Isère), who would like to see the wives of military personnel honored. "Having been one myself for nine years, I can say with certainty that some of them deserve this medal. These women, who are in the shadows, often endure in silence and total indifference a life that few would tolerate. Yet, just like their spouses, they participate in the "war effort" and allow our soldiers to have a sense of stability on which to fall back."