COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France (AP) – Joy and sorrow in sharp doses poured on Monday on the beaches of Normandy.
As several dozen D-Day veterans – all in their 90s – set foot on the sands of so many colleagues, they are grateful for the gratitude and friendliness of the French towards those who landed here on June 6, 1944. The sadness comes as you go. they think of their fallen comrades and another battle that is now being fought in Europe: the war in Ukraine.
As the bright sun rose on Monday over the wide sandy beach of Omaha Beach, American D-Day veteran Charles Shay expressed his thoughts on his comrades who died here 78 years ago.
“I have never forgotten them and I know their spirit is here,” he told the Associated Press.
Penobscott, a 98-year-old Indian native of Maine, is attending a sage-burning ceremony near a beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer. Shay, now living in Normandy, was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic when he landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944.
He said he was particularly sad to see war in Europe again, so many years later.
“Ukraine is a very sad situation. I feel sorry for the people there and I don’t know why this war had to come, but I think people love it, I think they love to fight. I don’t know, “he said. “In 1944, I landed on these beaches and we thought we would bring peace to the world. But it’s not possible. “
This year, Shay handed over the task of commemorating another local American, Julia Kelly, a veteran of the Gulf War from the Crow tribe, who performed the sage ritual. “Never forget, never forget,” she said. “At this time, war is not good at all times.”
Shay’s message to the younger generation would be to “always be vigilant.”
“Of course, I have to say that they have to defend their freedom now,” he said.
Over the past two years, D-Day ceremonies have been kept to a minimum amid restrictions on blocking COVID-19. But this year, crowds of French and international visitors – including veterans of the 1990s – returned to Normandy to pay tribute to the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the United States, Canada and elsewhere who landed there to bring freedom.
Several thousand people attended a ceremony at the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach in the French city of Colville-sur-Mer. They applauded more than 20 World War II veterans who attended the memorial service.
Among them was Ray Wallace, 97, a former paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne Division.
On day D, his plane was hit and caught fire, forcing him to jump earlier than expected. He landed 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the town of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, the first French village liberated from Nazi occupation.
“It simply came to our notice then. And then, when the man dropped us, we were far from where the rest of the group was. That was terrible, “Wallace told the AP.
Less than a month later, he was captured by the Germans. He was eventually released 10 months later and returned to the United States. After all, Wallace thinks he was lucky.
“I remember the good friends I lost there. So it’s a little emotional, “he said sadly. “I guess you can say I’m proud of what I did, but I didn’t do so much.”
He was asked about the secret of his longevity. “Calvados!” he joked about local alcohol in Normandy.
On Day D, Allied troops landed on beaches codenamed Omaha, Utah, Juneau, Sword and Gold, carried by 7,000 boats. That day, 4,414 Allied troops lost their lives, 2,501 of them Americans. More than 5,000 were injured.
Several thousand were killed or wounded on the German side.
Wallace, who uses a wheelchair, was among about 20 World War II veterans who opened Saturday’s parade of military vehicles in Sainte-Mere-Eglise to great applause from thousands of people in a joyful atmosphere. He did not hide his pleasure, waving happily to the crowd while the parents explained to their children the achievements of the heroes of World War II.
Many history buffs, dressed in military and civilian clothes from this period, also came to organize a reenactment of the events.
In Colleville-sur-Mer on Monday, US Air Force planes flew over the US cemetery during a memorial service in the presence of Army General Mark Millie, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The site is home to the graves of 9,386 people killed in battles on D-Day and subsequent operations.
Millie spoke strongly about Ukraine at the American Cemetery ceremony, promising that the United States and its allies would continue their “significant” support for Ukraine.
“Kyiv may be 2,000 kilometers away, and they, too, are experiencing the same horrors today as French citizens during World War II at the hands of the Nazi invader,” Millie said in a speech. “Let not only those here be the last witnesses of a time when our allies are coming together to defeat tyranny.
For Dale Thompson, 82, the site’s first visit over the weekend.
Thompson, who traveled from Florida with his wife, served in the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division in the early 1960s. He was in the state and saw no fighting.
Walking among the thousands of marble tombstones, Thompson wondered how he would react if he landed on D-Day.
“I’m trying to put myself in their shoes,” he said. “Can I be as heroic as these people?”
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AP journalists Oleg Cetinic and Jeremias Gonzalez contributed to the story.
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