For French Gen. Louis Dio’s goddaughter, remembering him and his service during World War II was her obligation, she said.

“I had just spent 10 years as a commissioner on the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission speaking about Americans who gave their life for their country,” Monique Seefried said Oct. 28 during a Noon Report webinar hosted by the Association of the U.S. Army. “I really felt I needed to speak about Dio, especially because he had no children, and so I felt it was my duty to have him remembered.”

Dio was a French commander during World War II, fighting in every battle with the French 2nd Armored Division from the liberation of France to the Nazi sanctuary above Berchtesgaden, Germany. Dio made history in 1945 when he became the youngest French general of the 20th century at just 37 years old.

Seefried is the co-author of a book chronicling Dio’s life, Général Louis Dio: The Wartime Epic of One of Free France’s Greatest Soldiers, 1940-1946. It was translated into English by retired Col. Jason Musteen.

Dio could effectively level with everyone from camel soldiers to higher level leadership, Musteen said. Dio “was the man who could bring all these different worlds together,” Musteen said during the Noon Report. He could “be the hard-nosed in the dirt soldiers’ commander, but yet also the one who could speak to the highest levels in a way that made sense and who could get things done.”

Even when circumstances were not ideal, Dio’s “can-do attitude” shined through, Musteen said, citing a battle near Carrouge, France, where Dio adapted to continue fighting despite his broken ankle.

Dio “drove around, and he wound up on the outskirts of the village, and then grabbed a tank platoon because there were some Germans ahead of him and impetuously just drove straight into this German column, shooting his 30-caliber on top of his vehicle with his four tanks behind him doing the same thing,” Musteen said.

After entering Carrouge and realizing it was “completely occupied by the enemy,” Dio “shot his way back through on the way out,” Musteen said.

Today’s Army leaders could benefit from embodying Dio’s selfless service, Musteen said. “Dio grew up with all these other kids whose fathers had fought in the war, and his father didn't, so he felt the need to prove something,” Musteen said. “You’d think that that would mean prove something to the world, prove something to everybody else, but it was to prove something to himself and at the same time to remain anonymous.”