[4] A well-disciplined soldier of the line infantry, Thurel was admonished only once during his entire career, during the 1747 siege of Bergen op Zoom as the French troops occupied the citadel.

When his regiment was ordered to march to the coast to embark on ships of the French Navy, he was given the opportunity to travel in a carriage due to his advanced age.

[4][6] In hopes of improving re-enlistment rates, Louis XV established the Médaillon Des Deux Épées ('Medal of the Two Swords') by royal decree in 1771.

[7] Thurel was awarded two Médaillon Des Deux Épées in 1771, the year the medal was established, in recognition of the two 24-year periods of time (1716–1740 and 1740–1764) during which he had served up until then.

The 33-year-old king of France, Louis XVI, addressed the 88-year-old[contradictory] Army private in a respectful manner as "father", and asked whether Thurel would prefer to be awarded the Ordre Royal et Militaire de Saint-Louis ('Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis') or a third Médaillon Des Deux Épées medal, in recognition of the period from 1764 to 1788.

The Comte d'Artois offered Thurel his sword, and the ladies of the court put a carriage at his disposal during his stay in the Paris area.

On 26 October 1804, at the age of 106, Thurel became one of the first recipients of the newly established Ordre National de la Légion d'Honneur ('National Order of the Legion of Honor'), the highest decoration in France.