The Normandy Sea as a “Famelot” for the 1944 U.S.-Military D-Day Experiment
NORMANDY, France — The Normandy coast looks like a Hollywood movie set this time of year. Or maybe it’s not real. Did a 1940s truck full of American GIs pass by? Yes, it did! On a D-Day anniversary, thousands of people from across Europe and beyond descend on a series of tiny seaside towns and beaches to commemorate the 1944 Allied landing and to live out their passion for World War II history.
A Frenchman is here with his family. There are three people in this picture; they are dressed as U.S. soldiers, a nurse and a women in the army corps. He says that they come every year dressed up. “It’s very poignant for us to dress like the American soldiers who liberated us.”
The group traveled from the Picardy region of France, some 300 miles away. They used a trailer to tow their jeep. It is wonderful. We follow the same path as the GIs, and it moves really fast. The small roads are filled with thousands of World War II-era vehicles that are ferrying enthusiastic passengers and driving down narrow lanes.
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Brands, the historian, says the 80th commemoration will be one of the last great ceremonies where some of the men who took part in the landings will participate. Most surviving D-Day veterans are now around 100 years old. He says that it is unlikely that they will make it to the 85th anniversary.
There is a group of people standing on a plaza overlooking Gold Beach, sharing a moment of memory and paying homage to the people who saved them.
When we think about what happened here 80 years ago, it’s important because we are surrounded by beaches and museums all year long.
More than 150,000 Allied troops landed at Normandy, including 73,000 from the US and thousands of other British and Canadian forces. Over 4,000 Allied troops were killed and thousands more were listed as missing or wounded.
The American Battlefield Monuments Commission, which is in charge of keeping up the overseas military cemetery, claims that Omaha was the deadliest of the invasion beaches.
He explained that the deaths on Omaha Beach were due to heavy resistance from the soldiers and had a lot to do with the bluffs.
“But eventually small units led by junior soldiers taking the initiative were able to get off that beach and open up the Draws [cuts between the cliffs] and get them off the beach,” Brands says. That was how D-Day was won. A group of men under trying circumstances doing incredibly heroic actions.
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The commemorations reflect the times. The Germans were invited to take part in a ceremony for the first time in 2004. The Chancellor of Germany said, “Europe has learned its lesson and we Germans will not shirk from it.” French President Jacques Chirac responded: “The French receive you more than ever as a friend. They give you a brother.
In both of the years, Russian President Vladimir Putin was present. Putin is no longer persona non grata as the shadow of war continues to hang over the world, despite the fact that the soviet union contributed to the defeat of the Nazis. Many people who came to celebrate that are not losing any sleep over it.
The American cemetery is where Marco is standing looking down at Omaha Beach. He traveled with his group from Italy. He is wearing a plaid uniform and a checkered cap for a Scottish army unit. “This was the army field photographic unit that took pictures and movies for the British army,” he says.
Righini says there is a weird feeling to the commemoration this year. “I see lots of similarities today with right before the beginning of the Second World War, when Hitler took part of Czechoslovakia,” he says.
Europe should do more to helpUkraine, says a Frenchman dressed as a GI. Russia used to be our ally, but no longer is, he says. Guilbert sees parallels with World War II.
This year, Ukrainian flags fly along with the Allied nations’ colors. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will attend D-Day commemorations for the first time, and will meet President Biden on the sidelines of the ceremonies.
“Part of the reason World War II happened is Europe’s inaction,” he says. The German army in 1936 and 1938 was not prepared, and the other European armies were superior in number and materiel. And today the Russian army doesn’t have what it takes to fight Western armies so we must act now.”
What is happening today reminds Charles Djou that the importance of the trans-Atlantic alliance is still important to the United States.
It is relevant in an era where global powers like Russia and China are increasing their aggression. “D-Day is a tiny reminder that the United States is a nation that fights for freedom and for liberty, we don’t fight for conquest and to take from other peoples. We fight for a better world.
Among those attending this year are a group of 13 Canadian veterans who are spending a week here to mark the anniversary, according to France’s Le Parisien newspaper. One of the group, 98-year-old Canadian American George Couture, was taken prisoner for 11 months after the D-Day landing.
World War II veterans were also at the event and were welcome back as heroes, along with veterans who died in the line of duty.
“On behalf of the American people and as commander in chief, it’s the highest honor to be able to salute you here in Normandy,” Biden told the veterans.
“Here you came, to join our effort, and to make France a free nation, sir,” the president told the service members. “And you are back here today — at home, if I may say.”
A crowd applauds as a group of veterans have their medals pinned to their jackets in front of them. The cemetery and its memorial sit on the shore of Omaha Beach, the location of the biggest amphibious assault in United States history.
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As it evoked that historic and bloody day, the event also took note of a current conflict: Europe is once again a place of war, as Russia seeks to pummel neighboring Ukraine into submission.
The U.S., NATO and their allies will not walk away from their commitments to Ukraine, Biden said. He warned of a domino effect if Russian succeeds in subjugating Ukranian.
“The autocrats of the world are watching closely to see what happens in Ukraine, to see if we let this illegal aggression go unchecked. We cannot allow that to happen.
Austin said that they seek a world where aggression is a sin and where human rights aresacred and where all people can live in freedom. We must stand firm against tyranny and aggression.
“What the allies did together 80 years ago far surpassed anything we could have done on our own,” Biden said, urging Americans not to forget that lesson.
“Together we won the war,” he said. “We rebuilt Europe, including our former enemies. It was an investment into what would become a prosperous future.
Biden said that “Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today.” The heroes fought against dark forces in the 80s. They never go away: aggression and greed, desire to control and change borders. These are perennial.”
“Remember, the price of unchecked tyranny is the blood of the young and the brave,” Biden said. “In their generation, in their hour of trial, the Allied forces of D-Day did their duty. Now the question for us is, in our hour of trial, will we do ours?”