World War II veterans and dignitaries were gathering in Normandy
for ceremonies Monday to honor the sacrifices of Allied soldiers
who died in the D-Day landings 61 years ago.??
Dozens of ceremonies were planned to commemorate those who
fought and died on the five blood-soaked beaches during the June 6,
1944 siege that marked the beginning of the end of the Nazi
regime.
French and American officials planned a tribute with a church
choir and band at the Normandy American cemetery in the town of
Colleville-sur-Mer, where 9,387 fallen US fighters are buried.
Parades, wreath-laying ceremonies and concerts were scheduled in
many towns and villages in a region.
American parachutists dropped into the town of
Sainte-Mere-Eglise on Sunday but rain led officials to cancel the
jumps of French and German parachutists in a commemoration that was
to include Germans for the first time. The town was the first
liberated by US forces in Normandy.
Hoping to strike a spirit of unity, Mayor Marc Lefevre invited
about 40 German parachutists to take part -- but building support
for his idea was not easy in his town.
"Many people asked me what was going through my head," Lefevre
said. "We need to know how to turn the page, and welcome the
Germans without rancor."
Though the rain prevented some of the jumps, hundreds of
spectators, including some World War II veterans, peered skyward to
watch the American parachutists.
"It's always moving to see this," said 82-year-old spectator
Shifty Power from Virginia who parachuted in on D-Day with the US
Army's 101st Airborne Division. "It's good for Germans also to take
part -- it's important for peace in the world."
About 156,000 Allied soldiers -- mostly American, British and
Canadian -- took part in the invasion, storming in from the English
Channel and opening a Western front against the Nazis.
(Chinadaily.com.cn via agencies, June 6, 2005)