Jacque Paul Drabier
Jacque Paul Drabier
Jacques Paul Drabier, 93, of Goodyear (PebbleCreek), Arizona died June 15, 2015, in Goodyear, Arizona.
He was born June 3, 1922, to René Drabier and Pauline Drabier in Saigon, Vietnam.
He served in the Air Force from 1939 to 1945 as a fighter pilot.
In 1939 Mr. Drabier agreed to escort some children bound back to Paris from the countryside train. This event changed his life. Despite having Red Cross designations on the train cars indicating non-combatants by the Geneva Convention rules, German aircraft strafed the train killing and injuring many. He vowed to avenge that attack. He stretched the truth about his age; he was accepted for air school and became a pilot for the Free French Air Force.
He fought with allied air forces throughout Europe on 84 combat missions and hundreds of sorties as an instructor. He knew how to fly at least 25 different types of aircraft.
In 1941 he was the designer of the Free French Air Force insignia approved by General Charles De Gaulle.
Mr. Drabier was the recipient of numerous commendations, medals and awards for his service including the Cordon of Merit for the Battle of the Bulge. His most prestigious award was in 2010 when he received France’s highest national award of valor, the Knight of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, presented to him by the President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy.
Mr. Drabier wrote a nonfiction book entitled War Pilot Memoirs: A Mirror on 1939.
Mr. Drabier is survived by his loving wife of 34 years, Janine B. Drabier; daughter Anne Elizabeth Heric; son Jean Michel Drabier; grandchildren Tristan Drabier and Cassandra Heric.
A memorial Mass was held on Thursday, June 25 at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in Avondale, Arizona.