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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Sat Jun 05, 2004 11:15 am France Welcomes Back U.S. Veterans |
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France Welcomes Back U.S. Veterans
Saturday, June 05, 2004
PARIS � With armfuls of gifts, France on Friday welcomed back American veterans who helped free Europe from Nazi occupation when they landed on Normandy's beaches 60 years ago.
One hundred former World War II fighters saluted and waved as they climbed off a chartered Air France plane that brought them from Washington, D.C., to receive France's highest honor at D-Day (search) anniversary commemorations this weekend.
Several leaned on canes as they walked down a red carpet on the tarmac at Charles De Gaulle Airport outside Paris. Many wore military caps and medals on their chests, some toted video cameras and all placed hands over their hearts when a French military band played "The Star-Spangled Banner."
They sang along, too, to "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem, whose words they had practiced on the flight.
"I'm really humbled by the whole thing," said Rocco Moretto, 79, of the New York City borough of Queens. "The buddies that we left behind were the real heroes. I often think of them."
French Veterans Minister Hamlaoui Mekachera (search) promised the Americans they'd find a warm, grateful welcome here.
"For the French people of 2004, just like for the French people of 1944 ... you are true heroes," he said.
"We are fully aware of what we owe you, we have not forgotten the immense sacrifices that you have made for the liberation of our country."
France is to bestow the Legion of Honor (search), its most prestigious civilian and military award, on the 100 veterans who were chosen by U.S. officials. France says it wants to honor them as representatives of all the Americans who fought against Nazism.
The 100 veterans are among thousands arriving in France for a weekend of ceremonies marking the 60 years since D-Day. Many are now in their 80s or older and this year's commemorations are likely to be the last major anniversary attended by large numbers of those who participated in the June 6, 1944 landings.
More than 20 national leaders are expected in Normandy to mark the occasion, including President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. It is the first time Russian and German leaders are attending a D-Day anniversary.
On Sunday, President Jacques Chirac (search) will bestow the coveted award on Charles Hostler during a Normandy ceremony that will draw the heads of state.
Hostler served with the OSS � Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA � in its effort to lead Nazi spies in France to feed false information about Allied plans back to their German commanders, said his wife, Chin-Yeh Hostler.
The honorees and their relatives traveled for free on a flight paid for by Air France and other French businesses. Some of the top hotels in Paris are putting them up without charge.
Joseph Kuhar, 87, of Washington, D.C., said French kindness had been overwhelming.
"If they keep giving me souvenirs, I'm going to have to hire a truck," he laughed. Many of the veterans carried shopping bags full of gifts, including bottles of champagne.
Howard Baugh, 84, of Midlothian, Virginia, who flew with the Tuskegee Airmen, said the Legion of Honor was particularly sweet for him since the all-black 332nd Fighter Group did not get widespread recognition for decades after the war.
"I was raised in the South, I was raised with segregation and discrimination," he said.
Unlike many of the veterans, Baugh was on his first visit to France. He was based in Italy and flew bombing missions over France to weaken German defenses before the D-Day landings.
Moretto saw the anniversary as a welcome chance to remember the ties that bind America and France together despite bad feelings between the allies over the Iraq war.
He said he was distressed by anti-French sentiment in the United States, noting that many Normandy civilians have carefully tended the graves of America's war dead.
"The French have always been good to us," he said. "And now we're going to toss that aside? I don't think that's right. It's not from the World War II veterans."
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Thomas
Pool Princess
Joined: 08 Jul 2001
Posts: 19730
Location: Manchester
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| Sat Jun 05, 2004 11:28 am |
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| Quote: | D-Day veterans remember sacrifice
Ceremonies to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings are taking place in Normandy as a flotilla of boats sails there from Portsmouth.
Thousands of British veterans of the seaborne invasion made the crossing to commemorate the event.
The journey reached its finale on Saturday afternoon when a Lancaster bomber flew over the ships and scattered a million poppies.
Sunday's anniversary events in France will be attended by 17 heads of state.
At least 12,000 British veterans are making the symbolic journey to honour the thousands who died to liberate France from German occupation.
The UK's top general, Sir Mike Jackson said: "Sadly this will be the last major anniversary for many of the veterans.
"They all had to reach deep inside themselves and bring out something which thank heavens eventually led to victory."
Figures attending the weekend's commemorations will include, for the first time, the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder.
The Queen, Prime Minister Tony Blair, US President George Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and Russian premier Vladimir Putin will also be present.
'You could cry'
On Saturday Prince Charles unveiled a replica of a horsa glider, used by British troops in the crucial invasion, and capture, of Pegasus Bridge.
Joe Burnett, 83, from South Shields, was a Commando on D-Day and one of the group who headed straight to Pegasus Bridge to relieve the paratroopers who had landed there under cover of darkness.
"It's marvellous seeing all your old friends. When you think of the lads who died here, you could cry for them," he said.
As Colonel in Chief of the Royal Dragoons Prince Charles also laid a wreath for them in Creully, which was liberated by UK soldiers.
And he also opened a British garden of remembrance in Caen, capital of the Calvados region where most of the D-Day beaches are sited.
More than 450 UK veterans are making the Channel crossing in cruise ship the Van Gogh, which has been chartered for the event by the Royal British Legion.
Those onboard held a mid-Channel memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony.
The British, American, Canadian and French navies are all represented.
Among the vessels is the boat that carried Winston Churchill and the supreme allied commander, General Eisenhower, as they reviewed the D-Day Armada.
The troops who set out on the operation carried an order of the day from General Eisenhower, who told them, "I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle".
Among the host of displays and services at the sites of key events in the D-Day invasion, was the arrival of 600 American parachutists who came from the French skies to commemorate the drop behind enemy lines at the northwestern village of Saint Mere Eglise.
Prince Charles also unveiled a statue at Les Mesnil to 93-year-old Brigadier James Hill - D-Day's oldest surviving senior officer.
As commander of the 3rd Parachute Brigade, he lost more than half his troops - 1500 - on D-Day.
The brigadier told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The thing that sticks in my heart and mind today...was the fact that as we pushed on the wounded all gave us a cheer.
"An hour or two later there was nobody left alive, they were all dead - drowned, killed, or missing."
The veterans can expect a warm welcome in Normandy with British and American flags already flying.
However, security will be tight with up to 20,000 French police and soldiers preparing for Sunday's commemoration ceremonies.
On 6 June 1944 some 6,000 allied vessels headed to the shores of occupied France in the biggest seaborne operation in history.
Of three million men who fought in the subsequent 80-day battle for Normandy around 250,000 were killed. |
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Gloss rhymes with hair!
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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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| Sat Jun 05, 2004 11:37 am |
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| Quote: | | "We are fully aware of what we owe you, we have not forgotten the immense sacrifices that you have made for the liberation of our country." |
| Quote: | He said he was distressed by anti-French sentiment in the United States, noting that many Normandy civilians have carefully tended the graves of America's war dead.
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Obviously I what I said in "Please explain this to me" was proven wrong....at least partially. There are not many times I am happy to be proven wrong...but this is one.
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