A4 The BulleTin • Monday, June 7, 2021
D-Day | 77th anniversary
World War II reenactors gather on Omaha Beach in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, on Sunday, the 77th anniversary of the assault that helped bring an end to World War II. While France is planning to open up to
vaccinated visitors later this month, that comes too late for the D-Day anniversary. So for the second year in a row, most public commemoration events were canceled. David Vincent/AP
NORMANDY COMMEMORATES D-DAY WITH
SMALL CROWDS,
BUT BIG HEART
BY SYLVIE CORBET
Associated Press
C
OLLEVILLE-SUR-MER,
France — When the sun
rises over Omaha Beach,
revealing vast stretches of
wet sand extending toward
distant cliffs, one starts to grasp the im-
mensity of the task faced by Allied sol-
diers on June 6, 1944, landing on the
Nazi-occupied Normandy shore.
Several ceremonies were being held
Sunday to commemorate the 77th an-
niversary of D-Day, the decisive assault
that led to the liberation of France and
western Europe from Nazi control, and
honor those who fell.
“These are the men who enabled
liberty to regain a foothold on the Eu-
ropean continent, and who in the days
and weeks that followed lifted the
shackles of tyranny, hedgerow by Nor-
mandy hedgerow, mile by bloody mile,”
Britain’s ambassador to France, Lord
Edward Llewellyn, said at the inaugu-
ration of a new British monument to
D-Day’s heroes.
On D-Day, more than 150,000 Al-
lied troops landed on the beaches code-
named Omaha, Utah, Juno, Sword and
Gold, carried by 7,000 boats. This year
on June 6, the beaches stood vast and
nearly empty as the sun emerged, ex-
actly 77 years since the dawn invasion.
For the second year in a row, anni-
versary commemorations are marked
by virus travel restrictions that pre-
vented veterans or families of fallen sol-
diers from the U.S., Britain, Canada and
other Allied countries from making the
trip to France. Only a few officials were
allowed exceptions.
At the newly built British Normandy
Memorial near the village of Ver-sur-
Mer, bagpipes played memorial tunes
and warplanes zipped overhead trail-
ing red-white-and-blue smoke. Socially
distanced participants stood in awe at
the solemnity and serenity of the site,
providing a spectacular and poignant
view over Gold Beach and the English
Channel.
The new monument pays tribute
to those under British command who
A veteran watches the official opening of the British Normandy Memorial in France via
a live feed during a ceremony at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, England,
on Sunday. On June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 Allied troops landed on code-named
beaches, carried by 7,000 boats. Jacob King/via AP
died on D-Day and during the Battle of
Normandy.
A text carved on the wall writes:
“They died so that Europe might be
free.”
Visitors stood to salute the more than
22,000 men and women, mostly British
soldiers, whose names are etched on its
stone columns. Giant screens showed
D-Day veterans gathered simultane-
ously at Britain’s National Memorial
Arboretum to watch the Normandy
event remotely. Prince Charles, speak-
ing via video link, expressed regret that
he couldn’t attend in person.
On June 6, 1944, “In the heart of the
mist that enveloped the Normandy
Coast ... was a lightning bolt of free-
dom,” French Defense Minister Florence
Parly told the ceremony. “France does
not forget. France is forever grateful.”
Charles Shay, a Penobscot Native
American who landed as an U.S. army
medic on June 6, 1944, and now calls
Normandy home, was the only surviv-
ing D-Day veteran at the Ver-sur-Mer
ceremony.
Another veteran of the Battle of Nor-
mandy, British Capt. David Mylchreest,
was also present. He landed with his
team in Normandy on June 12, 1944, to
replace officers who had died in the first
days of the fight.
Shay then took part in a commemo-
ration at the American Cemetery later in
the day in Colleville-sur-Mer, on a bluff
overseeing Omaha Beach, in the pres-
ence of officials from the United States,
Canada, Britain, Germany and other al-
lied countries.
The cemetery contains 9,380 graves,
most of them for servicemen who lost
their lives in the D-Day landings and en-
suing operations. Another 1,557 names
are inscribed on the Walls of the Miss-
ing.
Most public events have been can-
celed, and the official ceremonies were
limited to a small number of selected
guests and dignitaries.
Denis van den Brink, a WWII expert
working for the town of Carentan, site
of a strategic battle near Utah Beach,
acknowledged the “big loss, the big ab-
sence is all the veterans who couldn’t
travel.”
“That really hurts us very much be-
cause they are all around 95, 100 years
old, and we hope they’re going to last
forever. But, you know...” he said.
“At least we remain in a certain spirit
of commemoration, which is the most
important,” he told The Associated
Press.
Over the anniversary weekend, many
local residents have come out to visit the
monuments marking the key moments
of the fight and show their gratitude to
the soldiers. French World War II his-
tory enthusiasts, and a few travelers from
neighboring European countries, could
also be seen in jeeps and military vehi-
cles on the small roads of Normandy.
Some reenactors came to Omaha
Beach in the early hours of the day to
pay tribute to those who fell that day,
bringing flowers and American flags.
On D-Day, 4,414 Allied troops lost
their lives, 2,501 of them Americans.
More than 5,000 were wounded. On
the German side, several thousand were
killed or wounded.
Normandy has more than 20 military
cemeteries holding mostly Americans,
Germans, French, British, Canadians
and Polish troops who took part in the
historic battle.
Dignitaries stressed the importance of
keeping D-Day’s legacy alive for future
generations.
“In the face of the threats of today,
we should act together and show unity,”
Parly said, “so that the peace and free-
dom last.”