June 6, 2024 was the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings that turned the tide of World War II. It was commemorated on France’s Normandy coast during the first two weeks of June 2024 with events remembering, celebrating and honoring the thousands of American and Allied service members whose enormous sacrifices liberated Europe. It is said that during these anniversary days, “All Eyes Turn to Normandy.” Though fewer World War II Veterans are still living, willing and able to travel to France, many came to join world leaders in an extraordinary show of enduring NATO unity.
The array of international observances and locally arranged events included memorial and monument ceremonies, picnics, dances, Veteran meet-and-greets, concerts, parades of American marching bands, book and merchandise fairs, fireworks, marathons and seminars. With WWII military encampments, demonstrations, air shows and ceremonial flyovers, the numerous commemorations drew thousands of visitors, truckloads of international press and celebrity guests.
Lodging was scarce. Roads closed with and without notice. Life in the normally peaceful villages along the coast was turned upside down for weeks, even more than had been for any of the big 5-year anniversaries like the 75th, the 70th and earlier.
Heavy traffic, unusual for the often-narrow French roads, kicked up dust for days. Convoys transported reenactors and history enthusiasts in loaded down WWII-era Allied and Axis armored vehicles, jeeps, trucks and motorcycles bearing license plates with mostly B, NL, D, and UK prefixes. Military ambulances driven by jubilant medical corps-garbed men and women; their sirens screeched incessantly. 1930s vintage cars displaying Free-France and resistance flags, filled with civilians in 40s dress, drove through parking lots packed with privately or club-owned WWII vehicle collections.
Evidence of worn out, 80+ year old WWII surplus shouldered and, often, blocked roadways with breakdowns of historic (French) proportions. Rubber-necking passengers giggled, “Mind the Halftrack, Honey,” then gasped at the sight of a ditched WWII Kenworth 6-ton wrecker, its hood propped open while distraught, uniformed U.S. GI reenactors scrambled about chatting… in Dutch. Though catastrophically disabled, the truck’s olive drab paint and military markings were more perfect than the day it shipped from Detroit in the 1940’s.
Lorries carrying Sherman tanks, half-tracks and other armored vehicles slowed the highways. Vintage military vehicles filled with passengers dressed in American WWII uniforms but, curiously, were not American; they looked uncomfortable and out of place as they bounced dutifully along on thin seat padding, sans seatbelts, grasping officer’s caps and whatever else they could, with stylish scarves and headphones betraying their identities. Passing the long convoys of smoky exhaust and brake-lights, one could imagine racing up the highway to Berlin in spring 1945.
American Veterans, their families and tourists came in on buses. So many buses, so many sights. Service members from the States and American bases in Europe, and allied service members from around the globe, took part in many of the ceremonies, adding a sense of military strength, pomp and alliance to the sandy, sunbaked proceedings. The long evenings found many troops relaxing at outdoor cafes enjoying a comparatively wonderful deployment.
With the history of their homeland, Normands are used to this kind of invasion. Many residents are ardently pro-American and fly U.S. flags year-round. Welcoming back returning American heroes and friends, hundreds more U.S. flags are flying over these weeks in appreciation for service and sacrifice. French schoolchildren are taught their history, and residents have reached out to Americans who lost family members on their beach. Many locals routinely come to place flowers at the nearby Normandy-American Cemetery on Memorial Day and other U.S. holidays.
The sky droned with C-47s/DC-3s filled with tourists and journalists, flying respectfully over the beaches, villages and cemeteries. A lone P-51 Mustang and then a Spitfire, a formation of Piper Cubs, were all here to honor the anniversary. Huge NATO C-130s streamed past sites throughout June 6 week, rehearsing for the flyovers with which nearly every major ceremony began, or ended. Helicopters constantly buzzed the area, and folks residing on Omaha Beach would run out to wave if they thought any might be Marine One. On the horizon, a few miles off Omaha Beach, lies anchored a French helicopter assault ship stationed for security and to provide a landing exhibit of NATO capabilities.
The French police saturated the countryside and manned every intersection. English was a language they demonstrably despised practicing with Americans behind the wheel whose Airbnb was, “just beyond that varee sign, s_’i_l_ _v_o_u_s_ _p_l_a_ît_?” Patience was required. Delays were enigmatic and endless. But the days were long and the weather was stunning, while everyone was similarly drawn to this time and place of courage, sacrifice and liberation.
With U.S. flags flying everywhere, one felt bursting pride in what America has brought to these grateful people twice in the 20th century, with grit and blood, leaving nearly 10,000 countrymen resting in the cemetery nearby and thousands more in American Battlefield Monuments Commission cemeteries across Europe and Africa.
The small Old Glory displayed in the corner of our windshield drew salutes from reenactors and other celebrants we passed. It was easy to feel Europe’s gratitude for the freedom that America fights for and defends again and again, as well as the friendship of America’s oldest ally that week. We hated to leave.
More photos
Visit the online Flickr album containing photographs by VA public affairs specialist Robert Turtil of D-Day 80 anniversary events in Normandy, France, including: June 4, Charles Shay Native American Memorial Ceremony; June 6 Normandy-American Cemetery Ceremony; June 7 ambulance donation from American groups to Ukraine, and concerts and parades later that day on Omaha Beach at St. Laurent-sur-Mer; June 8 meeting of WWII Veterans with French school children, as well as images which make this time and place so special, every year.
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Went to Church with a gentleman that stormed Utah Beach in the Second Wave. He made no qualms about it…it was Hell, a living nightmare. As the child of a World War Two Veteran, growing up in a Boomer neighborhood, I am well aware of the sacrifices that their Generation made to secure Freedom and Democracy around the world. I still stand in awe at their resolve, sense of Duty, and the courage to sally forth into danger for the sake of Peoples that they have no connection to. I have grave doubts that America could ever muster strength of caliber ever again. We no longer require new arrivals to commit to become part of the American Ideal. Being an American used to mean something. Now all we do is celebrate where they come from. The Beacon on the Hill needs the lantern re-lit.
My dad, Richard O. Moore was one of the first to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He was part of the 5th Amphibious Engineer Group. My mother and I learned in 1993 that daddy was one of the soldiers that made it up the hill to the blochaus and was able to capture it so that the troops were not being fired upon any longer. He didn’t talk about that day, just that it truly was one of the most horrific days of his life. Dad never told us about the capture, it was Col. Coppernol who informed us of this when we were invited to be honored guests of President Bill Clinton for D-Day 50. I was so proud of him and the rest of my family that fought the Nazis to remove Hitler from power and destruction. Sadly, history is repeating itself today and this time it’s America’s freedom that is at stake. I am grateful that my dad, Uncles both French and American are not here to see what is happening today.
My late friend Bud Janeck landed on the beach (I forget which one) after the beaches were secured, he was a cook after all. Hot meals were gratefully accepted by the weary GI’s. He visited Normandy for the 60th (I think) anniversary. He won a raffle for one of the spent shell casings, and got to meet Tom Hanks. Although I don’t remember all the details of his visit, one think has stayed with me for these many years. When he went to check out of the B & B at which he stayed, the proprietor told him, “No charge. Thank you for your service”!