Normandy commemorates D-Day with small crowds, but big heart
COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France (AP) - When the sun rises over Omaha Beach, vast stretches of wet sand stretch out toward the distant cliffs, encountered by Allied troops upon landing on June 6, 1944 Begins to understand the enormity of the work done. On the Nazi-occupied Normandy Coast.
The 77th anniversary of D-Day was marked on Sunday with a series of events to commemorate the decisive attack that freed France & Western Europe from Nazi control, & the death of those who had fallen. respected.
"These are the people who enabled freedom to gain a foothold on the European continent, & who in days & weeks lifted the shackles of tyranny, the Normandy hedgerow by the hedgerow, the bloody mile by mile," Britain's ambassador to France, Lord Edward Llewellyn at the inauguration of a new British monument to the heroes of D-Day.
On D-Day, more than 150,000 Allied troops landed on beaches codenamed Omaha, Utah, Juno, Sword & Gold, carried by 7,000 boats. On June 6 of this year, the beaches stood vast & almost empty, just 77 years after the dawn of dawn as soon as the sun rose.
For the second year in a row, the anniversary commemoration is marked by virus travel restrictions that prevent families of soldiers from the US, UK, Canada & other Allied countries from traveling to France. Only certain officers were allowed exceptions.
At the newly built British Normandy Memorial near the village of Ver-sur-Mer, bagpipes played commemorative tunes & warplanes zipped overhead behind red-white-&-blue smoke. Providing a spectacular & poignant view over Gold Beach & the English Channel, socially distant participants stood in awe at the site's solemnity and serenity.
The new memorial pays tribute to those under British command who died on D-Day & during the Battle of Normandy.
A text engraved on the wall reads: "They died so that Europe could be free."
Visitors stood to salute the more than 22,000 men & women, mostly British soldiers, whose names are inscribed on its stone pillars. Huge screens showed D-Day veterans gathering together at Britain's National Memorial Aboretum to watch the Normandy event from afar. Prince Charles, speaking via video link, expressed regret that he could't be present in person.
On June 6, 1944, "in the heart of the haze that covered the Normandy coast ... there was a lightning bolt of freedom," French Defense Minister Florence Parly told the ceremony. "France does not forget. France is always grateful."
Charles Shay, a Penobscot Native American who landed as a US Army medic on June 6, 1944 & now calls Normandy home, was the only surviving D-Day veteran at the Ver-sur-Mer ceremony.
Another veteran of the Battle of Normandy, British Captain David Mylchrist, was also present. He landed with his team in Normandy on June 12, 1944, to replace the officers killed in the 1st days of the fighting.
Shay later attended a commemoration at the American Cemetery in Colville-sur-Mer, a bluff in the presence of officials from the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany & other allied countries, overseen by Omaha Beach.
There are 9,380 graves in the cemetery, most of them for soldiers who lost their lives in the D-Day landings & ensuing operations. Another 1,557 names are inscribed on The Walls of the Missing.
Most public events have been cancelled, and official ceremonies were limited to a select few guests & dignitaries.
Dennis van den Brink, a WWII specialist working for the city of Kerrenton, the site of a strategic battle near Utah Beach, acknowledged that "the big loss, the big absence is all the veterans who could not make the journey."
"It really hurts us a lot because they are about 95,100 years old, & we hope they are going to be around forever. But, you know..." he said.
"At least we live in a certain sense of commemoration, which is most important," he told the Associated Press.
Over the anniversary weekend, many local residents turned out to visit the monuments marking important moments of the battle and express their gratitude to the soldiers. French World War II history enthusiasts, & some travelers from neighboring European countries, could also be seen in jeeps & military vehicles on the narrow streets of Normandy.
Some reenactors brought flowers & American flags to Omaha Beach in the early hours of the day to pay tribute to those who fell that day.
On D-Day, 4,414 Allied forces lost their lives, 2,501 of whom were Americans. More than 5,000 were injured. On the German side, several thousand were killed or wounded.
There are more than 20 military cemeteries in Normandy, mostly of American, German, French, British, Canadian & Polish soldiers who took part in the historic battle.
The dignitaries stressed the importance of keeping the legacy of D-Day alive for future generations.
"In the face of today's threats, we must work together & show unity," Parly said, "so that peace & freedom prevail."