D-Day anniversary in France reflects on war’s past and present : NPR

NORMANDY, France — The Normandy coast looks like a Hollywood movie set right now. Or maybe it’s just a trick of the times. Did a 1940s truck loaded with American soldiers just suddenly pass by? Yes, it did! Welcome to Normandy on the anniversary of D-Day, when thousands of people from Europe and beyond flock to small seaside towns and beaches to commemorate the 1944 Allied landings and live out their passion for World War II history.

Frenchman Jacky Patrice has come with his wife Dorothy and some friends. They are dressed like American soldiers, a Women’s Army Corps member and a nurse. “We come dressed up every year,” he says. “It’s very touching for us to dress up like the American soldiers who liberated us.”

The group traveled through the Picardy region of France, which is about 300 miles away. They pulled their 1940 Jeep on a trailer. Jackie Patrice says, “It’s amazing. We follow the same route as the GIs and it’s really touching.” The small roads are filled with thousands of these World War II vehicles carrying enthusiastic passengers, winding through narrow streets and paths of history.

Jackie Patrice, with Dorothy and some friends, dressed as World War II U.S. soldiers, a Women’s Army Corps member and a nurse.

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President Biden and the leaders of France, Germany, Canada and the king of England will join these re-enactors on Thursday in official ceremonies to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, which began the June 6, 1944, campaign to liberate the continent from the Nazis.

For many people living in the towns and villages around the landing beaches this anniversary is at the same time grand and personal.

part of daily life

“It’s a moment to share memories and pay tribute to all those people who saved us,” says Odile Laporte, who is part of a local choir performing outside the plaza overlooking Gold Beach.

“Living here and being surrounded by beaches and atmosphere and museums all year round makes this moment particularly important as we think about what happened here 80 years ago.”

Over 150,000 Allied troops landed at Normandy, including 73,000 American troops landing at Omaha and Utah Beaches and thousands more British and Canadian troops. Over 4,000 Allied soldiers were killed and thousands more were reported missing or wounded.

Of all the invasion beaches, Omaha was the deadliest, says Ben Brands, a historian with the American Battlefield Monuments Commission, which maintains 26 U.S. overseas military cemeteries.

“About 800 Americans died on June 6 at Omaha Beach, just across from this cemetery,” he says, explaining that one reason for this was the rocks there and that the troops encountered more resistance than expected.

“But eventually small detachments led by junior soldiers took the initiative and were able to get out on that beach and open the draws (gaps between the rocks) and get them off the beach,” Brands says. “That’s how D-Day was won. Through incredibly heroic actions by small groups of men under extremely difficult conditions.”

Commemorations evolved over time

D-Day anniversaries were not always such grand international events. The commemorations took a new turn in 1984 when for the first time, then-French President François Mitterrand invited six heads of state, including President Ronald Reagan and Queen Elizabeth II, to an international ceremony on Normandy’s Utah Beach attended by thousands of veterans.

The commemoration reflects the times. In 2004, for the first time, Germans were invited to take part in the ceremony. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder attended and famously said, “Europe has learned its lesson, and we Germans will not turn away from it.” French President Jacques Chirac responded: “The French accept you as a friend more than ever. They accept you as a brother.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin was present that year, and again in 2014. Even though the Soviet Union played a key role in the defeat of the Nazis, Putin is seen as an unwanted presence this year, as the shadow of war once again looms over the continent with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That was apparent to many of the celebrants.

Ukraine is in great danger

Twenty-nine-year-old Marco Righini stands on a cliff at the American cemetery, looking out over Omaha Beach. He has traveled from Italy with his World War II reenactment group. He is dressed in the wool uniform and smart checkered hat of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, a Scottish regiment. “It was the Army’s field photographic unit that took pictures and films for the British Army,” he says.

Righini says there is a strange feeling about this year’s commemoration. “I see a lot of similarities today with just before the start of World War II, when Hitler occupied parts of Czechoslovakia,” he says.

Righini believes Europe should do more to help Ukraine. “Even though this will bring many problems,” he says, “we cannot allow Russia to do whatever it wants and get away with it.”

Marco Righini traveled with a World War II reenactment group from Italy.

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This year, Ukrainian flags will fly alongside those of the Allies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the D-Day commemorations for the first time, and will meet President Biden during the ceremony.

French citizen Alexis Gilbert, dressed as a GI, also says Europe should do “a lot, a lot” for Ukraine. “Russia was once our friend, but it has no place here anymore,” he says. Gilbert also sees many parallels with World War II.

“One of the reasons World War II happened is because of Europe’s inaction,” he says. “In 1936 and 1938 the German army was not ready and the other European armies were far superior in numbers and equipment. And today the Russian army does not have what it needs to fight the Western armies, so we must act now.”

Still, some in Normandy expressed fear about Russia’s nuclear arsenal and the threat of a major war.

Charles Xu, secretary of the American Battlefield Monuments Commission, says what’s happening today is a timely reminder of the importance of the trans-Atlantic alliance and American values.

“What happened here 80 years ago is especially relevant in an era of growing aggression from global powers like Russia and China,” he says. “D-Day is a small reminder that the United States is a nation that fights for freedom and liberation; we don’t fight to conquer and take away from other people. We fight for democracy.”

Historian Brands says the 80th anniversary will be one of the last great celebrations that some of those who took part in the landings will attend. Most of the surviving D-Day veterans are now around 100 years old. “It’s unlikely they’ll live to see the 85th anniversary,” he says.

According to France, participants this year include a group of 13 Canadian veterans who are spending a week here to celebrate the anniversary. Le Parisian One of the group, 98-year-old Canadian American George Couture, was taken prisoner for 11 months after the D-Day landings.

“It’s much more pleasant than my first trip to Normandy,” he said. Le Parisian,