International “experience of a lifetime” inspires local student

Saturday 29 June 2019

A local student who was hand-picked for an international ‘jury’ of young people who pooled their ideas on what ‘freedom’ means to them, also attended the official D-Day commemoration in Normandy and described it as the “experience of a lifetime.”

17-year-old Tanguy Billet-Masters recently went to Normandy to connect with some significant history as part of a global initiative to get young people thinking about ‘freedom’ as commemorations of the Second World War took place on the D-Day landing beaches.

Express caught up with the Victoria College student who shared his reflections on being part of the Prix Liberté jury and attending in the official D-Day ceremony at Coleville on Juno Beach…

Tanguy was one of 30 young people selected for the jury from across the globe. The prize was created by the Normandy region in association with academic authorities and the International Institute of Human Rights and Peace.

Pictured: Tanguy attended the ceremony in Normandy where the Allied landings took place (Imperial War Museum/Wikipedia).

The 17-year-old explained that the ‘Freedom Prize’ uses the “meaning and values of the Allied landings” as a means to get young people from around the world to reflect on what it means to fight for one’s freedom in 2019.

Earlier this year, the jury of young people were tasked with shortlisting three figures whom they thought represented the modern fight for freedom.

Tanguy told Express that the jury settled on Greta Thurnberg, a 16-year-old environmental activist leading an international campaign to put an end to the ‘climate crisis’, Raif Badawi a humanitarian who has been imprisoned and flogged for criticising the regime in Saudi Arabia and Lu Guang, a disappeared photo-journalist whose work captures the lives of Chinese citizens living on the margins of society.

Off the back of his involvement in the prize, he, along with other members of the jury, was invited by the French Prime Minister, Edouard Phillipe, to attend the official D-Day ceremony at Coleville in Normandy. 

Pictured: The jury for the 'Freedom Prize' (Prix Liberté).

Tanguy said he was “honoured” to have been invited to attend such an occasion. He said: “I learnt that the generation that had gone beforehand was our generation of saviours. It was emotional, breath-taking and unforgettable. That is how I would sum up my experience.

“I learnt that our heroes were just ordinary people whether this be van drivers, carpenters, bricklayers, lawyers, accountants, civil servants, gas fitters, electrical engineers and much more… coming together for one purpose – freedom.”

Of his whole experience with the ‘Freedom Prize’, Tanguy said that “the best part… was meeting others from my generation and making new contacts around the globe. It has definitely been an experience of a lifetime, one that at first I was anxious to do – nevertheless it has changed my perspective in life. 

“I have created bonds with people from different cultures, very strong friendships that now will surely last forever.”

Taking from the experience a sense of his heritage and the legacy of those who fought for freedom during the war, Tanguy urges other young people to be mindful of this history: “It is essential to keep this memory alive as it is a reminder of how lucky we are to live in freedom, peace and prosperity.”