France seeks personal accounts of liberation from the Nazis, 80 years after the D-Day landings
The French president is appealing to the public to collect photos, films, personal journals and testimony from witnesses to liberation from the Nazis, as the country prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings in 1944.
National D-Day Memorial hosts annual event to honor the 4,415 men killed in war
BEDFORD, Va. โ The National D-Day Memorial in Bedford is hosting its annual Flames of Memory event this weekend. Staff and volunteers were out Friday morning, arranging bags with battery-operated candles throughout the memorialโs grounds. Those luminarias will light up the night sky through Sunday, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.Each one represents a man killed on D-Day. There are 4,415 of them. โItโs really hard when you hear a number like that to imagine what that would look like, but this event allows you to see that by seeing all of the bags that are placed, starting at Burks Hill Road, all the way throughout the memorial,โ said Maggie Hartley, associate director for programming and events for the National D-Day MemorialAdmission is free and donations are welcome.
UK honors war dead in scaled-back Remembrance Sunday service
(Joe Giddens/PA via AP)LONDON โ In a scaled-back service, Queen Elizabeth II led tributes Sunday to those from the U.K. and the Commonwealth who perished in wartime, as most veterans paid their respects at home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The 94-year-old monarch looked on from a balcony at a government building above the Cenotaph on Whitehall in central London on the 100th year anniversary of the memorial's installation following the conclusion of World War I. Following a two-minute silence at 11 a.m., Prince Charles laid a wreath on the queen's behalf during the Remembrance Sunday commemoration. Though the service was very different, people up and down the land took time out to honor the war dead. โWe need to be conscious of those risks and thatโs why remembrance matters,โ he added.
On sad anniversary, few to mourn the D-Day dead in Normandy
In sharp contrast to the 75th anniversary of D-Day, this year's 76th will be one of the loneliest remembrances ever, as the coronavirus pandemic is keeping nearly everyone from traveling. It poses a particular threat to the elderly like the surviving D-Day veterans who are in their late nineties or older. All across the beaches of Normandy tens of thousands came from across the globe to pay their respects to the dead and laud the surviving soldiers. The acrid smell of wartime-era jeep exhaust fumes and the rumble of old tanks filled the air as parades of vintages vehicles went from village to village. Someday the COVID-19 pandemic, too, will pass, and people will turn out to remember both events that shook the world.
No in-person D-Day ceremony has financial, emotional impact on Bedford
BEDFORD, Va. For the first time, the annual D-Day ceremony in Bedford will be virtual, which means a big loss in potential revenue for businesses in the town. There was no crowd Friday at the Bedford Boys Tribute Center, adding insult to injury after the past few months. Being closed these months, weve lost a lot of revenue coming in to sustain and pay the rent and everything," said Bedford Boys Tribute Center Co-Curator Linda Parker. A small town, but they have a true love for the Bedford Boys and the people that live in this town," Parker said. To watch the virtual D-Day ceremony, click here.
WWII veteran thank you dinner postponed to September due to virus
ROANOKE, Va. โ An event honoring our World War II veterans will have to wait until September because of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the past 35 years, Bernard Marie has honored those who fought for the Allied Forces with a dinner the day before D-Day. Marie hosts the dinner as a thank you since he was a just a boy when American troops stormed the beaches of Normandy to free his country from captivity. He has now written a book, โD-Day in the Eyes of a Boy,โ so others will remember what America did for Europe. You have one guy who was killing people because they were not the same color of skin, same religion, million of million of Jewish.
Church bells ring in Bedford for the 75th anniversary of V-E Day
BEDFORD, Va. โ Bedford has a deep connection to World War II, and the town commemorated one of the warโs most important dates Friday morning. Church bells filled the air for the 75th anniversary of V-E Day, the day World War II officially ended in Europe. 19 men from Bedford, known as the โBedford Boys,โ were killed while storming the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. The National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, which itself commemorated the 75th anniversary of D-Day last year, had planned a parade in town for V-E Day. Although the parade has been canceled, National D-Day Memorial President April Cheek-Messier said the bells still illustrate the significance of this day.
Thousands gather to honor, celebrate veterans in Bedford for Veterans Day
BEDFORD, Va. - For Veterans Day, thousands came to celebrate veterans at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford. Local elementary students paid tribute in songs, while high school students brought in the flags. Peter Caddick-Adams writes in "Sand and Steel" more than 4,000 people died on D-Day, but 10,000 soldiers died during the training before the war. So really, I think we need to be paying tribute to those who died in the training and preparation as on that first day of combat," Caddick-Adams said. At the end of the program, veterans lined up to be embraced and thanked by local students and community.
A not-so-traditional France vacation: All the reasons to visit the historical grounds of Normandy
Teach your children or grandchildren about these historical grounds where thousands of young men gave their lives for our freedom. How do you visit the beaches of Normandy the right way? Start your visit to Normandy at a few of the many museums around the region. Getty Images Tourists visit the Mulberry harbours at the beach at Arromanche in Normandy (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images). Getty Images Tourists visit the memorial sites at Utah Beach (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images) (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images).