80 Years Since D-Day on the Beaches of Normandy
canopic jug writes:
Eighty years ago, as of Wednesday, June 6th, 2024, the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy started as part of Operation Overlord. This was the beginning of the turning point in WWII against the fascists. Even the youngest veterans from that operation, those who were underage at the time, are pushing 100.
- Army Times, WWII vet says 'greatest generation' fits because 'we saved the world'
Now, he proudly lays claim to being part of "The Greatest Generation."
"Because we saved the world," he said.
He has made the trip back to France before but says his return this year for the 80th anniversary of D-Day is special for the people of Europe, and for himself.
- France 24, Juno Beach, where locals honour the memory of Canadian D-Day veterans
More than 14,000 volunteer soldiers from across Canada - fighting alongside British and US troops - seized the beaches of Normandy on D-Day to help liberate the region from German occupation. Eighty years since that fatal day in June 1944, a handful of local inhabitants have made it their mission to preserve and pass on the lesser-known stories of Canadian soldiers.
- Reuters, D-Day: What to expect from 80th anniversary in Normandy
Veterans and world leaders will meet in Normandy, northwestern France, on June 6 to mark the 80th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings, when more than 150,000 Allied soldiers invaded France to drive out the forces of Nazi Germany.
Eighty years later, Normandy's beaches and fields still bear the scars of the fighting that erupted on D-Day, history's largest amphibious invasion.
- VOA, American veterans being honored in France at 80th anniversary of D-Day
"I know my brother and I never looked at it as we were any kind of heroes, nothing like that," Margol said recently of himself and his twin brother Howard, who served with him. "It was just our time. That we were asked to serve. And we did."
- US News, A Mass Parachute Jump Over Normandy Kicks off Commemorations for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day
On Sunday, three C-47 transport planes, a workhorse of the war, dropped three long strings of jumpers, their round chutes mushrooming open in the blue skies with puffy white clouds, to whoops from the huge crowd that was regaled by tunes from Glenn Miller and Edith Piaf as they waited.
- RTL, Normandy: As war again shakes Europe, leaders mark 80 years since D-Day
Western leaders will this week mark on the beaches of northern France 80 years since Allied troops surged into Nazi occupied Europe in the World War II D-Day landings, haunted by the war again raging on the continent as Ukraine battles Russian invasion.
- VOA, US veterans get heroes' welcome in France ahead of D-Day anniversary
Many of those flying in over the weekend into Monday were older than 100, pushed on wheelchairs by relatives and aides.
"It's unreal. It's unreal. Wow," 107-year-old Reynolds Tomter said at Paris Charles-de-Gaulle airport as students waved U.S. and French flags and held up photos of the veterans.
- Army Times, Black medic who saved dozens on D-Day posthumously honored
"The tide brought us in, and that's when the 88s hit us," he said of the German 88mm guns. "They were murder. Of our 26 Navy personnel there was only one left. They raked the whole top of the ship and killed all the crew. Then they started with the mortar shells," Woodson said.
Woodson was wounded while still on the landing craft. But for the next 30 hours he treated 200 wounded men all while under intense small arms and artillery fire before collapsing from his injuries and blood loss, according to accounts of his service. At the time he was awarded the Bronze Star.
- Christian Science Monitor, Near 80th anniversary of D-Day, British women recognized for their non-combat roles in the Allied forces
As the 80th anniversary of D-Day approaches on June 6, hundreds of thousands of women who worked behind the scenes in crucial non-combat jobs for the Allied forces are finally getting the recognition they deserve.
- Brattleboro Reformer, Centenarian veterans are sharing their memories of D-Day, 80 years later
Few witnesses remain who remember the Allied assault. The Associated Press is speaking to veterans about their role in freeing Europe from the Nazis, and what messages they have for younger generations.
- Brattleboro Reformer, The last WWII vets converge on Normandy for D-Day and fallen friends and to cement their legacy
Veterans of World War II, many of them centenarians and likely returning to France for one last time, pilgrimaged Tuesday to what was the bloodiest of five Allied landing beaches on June 6, 1944. They remembered fallen friends. They relived horrors they experienced in combat. They blessed their good fortune for surviving. And they mourned those who paid the ultimate price.
They also bore a message for generations behind them, who owe them so much: Don't forget what we did.
- New York Times, D-Day's 80th Anniversary Might Be the Last for Many WWII Veterans
It is 80 years since the Allied invasion of Normandy, and the average age of veterans hovers at 100. Once they are gone, how will their sacrifices be remembered?
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