Vets, families remember Normandy D-Day landings, 72 years on

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald-AP

COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France (AP) — Proud veterans in their 90s and families of fallen soldiers are commemorating the epochal D-Day invasion of Normandy 72 years ago that helped the Allies defeat Hitler.

They're holding small ceremonies and moments of remembrance along the wide beaches and cliffs where thousands of U.S., British, Canadian and French troops landed as dawn was breaking June 6, 1944. It was a pivotal moment in World War II.

Henry Breton of Augusta, Maine, was among the shrinking number of survivors of the landings to come for Monday's anniversary. Speaking from the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, 91-year-old Breton recalled the fierce German counterattack and ensuing violence and valor he experienced at the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.

"It's all worth it," he said. "It brings back so many memories."


Francois Mori

CORRECTS YEAR TO 2016- Tombs at the Colleville American military cemetery, in Colleville sur Mer, western France, Sunday June 5, 2016, on the eve of the 72nd anniversary of the D-Day landing. D-Day marked the start of a Europe invasion, as many thousands of Allied troops began landing on the beaches of Normandy in northern France in 1944 at the start of a major offensive against the Nazi German forces, an offensive which cost the lives of many thousands. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/world/vets-families-remember-normandy-d-day-landings-years-on/article_d5f3eedb-a687-5ada-aa52-aa6928b97197.html

[leftynyc]

1. My family went to Normandy

back in 2000 to visit the beach and the cemetery. So beautifully kept and what a story of military imagination and grit.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. My uncle served in the Battle of the Bulge

We think he had PTSD for the remainder of his life because he
didn't deal forthrightly with life

Looking back on WWI and WWII is surreal

I can hardly imagine what it was like in the moment

[appalachiablue]

3. We had a wonderful trip to this site and Normandy that I'll always remember.

My father departed NY, sailed to England and then France just after D-Day to serve in the 7th Army in the Rhineland Campaign, the liberation of Dachau and the Occupation. Our freedom and security are owed to the many brave Allied forces who fought fascism in Europe and Imperialism in the Pacific. We must never forget to recognize their honor and what they gave us.

[Auggie]

4. I read "D-Day" by Stephen Ambrose recently ...

what these soldiers went through is spellbinding. I highly recommend it.

[uppityperson]

5. At least 1 Normandy church has included paratroopers and military badges in their replaced

stained glass windows.