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| Europe |
| D-Day graves ready for ceremony |
| 2004-05-27 |
| EFL, but recommend reading the whole article. Sleep well, servicemen and women. We honor your sacrifice. In its magnificent setting on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach and the Channel beyond, fevered preparations are under way at the American cemetery and memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer for the 60th anniversary commemorations of D-Day. One of the high points of June 6 - and the moment to be most closely monitored for its diplomatic significance - will be the encounter between presidents Jacques Chirac and George W Bush at the joint Franco-American ceremony before the gravestones of some 9,400 fallen US troops. Today contractors are installing metal viewing-stands, rows of folding seats and towers for the television cameras, while gardeners bring the already immaculate acres of greensward and woodland into an even higher state of perfection. Vast tents have been installed out of view for accommodating the 1,700 American soldiers who will provide both the ceremonial guard and an extra tier of security. Terrorism is a real concern, and the whole 80-kilometre (50-mile) stretch of the Normandy coast is already patrolled by French paramilitary gendarmes. |
| Posted by:Seafarious |
| #12 Pappy No it isn't the same. That was the gaullist educational system. Today it is a leftist system who says _nobody_ was member of the resistance. Deacon Blues Your quoter was a liar. De Gaulle had may defects but his obsession was that the French take a part as big as possible in the fightings and shed their blood for victory. From June 18, 1940 he was saying that if France didn't take part in her liberation she would be relegated to secondary status after the war. secondary status after the war. |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-05-28 1:19:14 AM |
| #11 Charlles de Gaulle was quoted as saying, just before D-Day, "Why should one drop of French blood be shed to liberate our country? The Americans and the British will do it for us." |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2004-05-27 10:35:59 PM |
| #10 ...according to it America went to war only fopr her own interests so she doesn't deserve thanks. The same educational system that teaches that everyone's ancestor alive during WWII was a member of the Resistance? ; ) |
| Posted by: Pappy 2004-05-27 10:30:57 PM |
| #9 No, it isn't a popular song. The caretaker had invented it all alone. BTW, she was doing her propaganda while paid with MY taxes. Completely unrelated. Tonight we have "Saving private Ryan" in the TV. Perhaps the D-DAy ceermonies will generate some sympathy towards America however the French educational system has provided about it: according to it America went to war only fopr her own interests so she doesn't deserve thanks. No mention is done about the Americans, those who died at Omaha Beach or Bastogne and didn't do it for selfish, sordid schemes of politicians |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-05-27 4:56:52 PM |
| #8 Taken from a 2003 Time Magazine article: In 1966, after Charles de Gaulle instructed President Lyndon Johnson that he wanted American troops withdrawn from his country, Johnson ordered Secretary of State Dean Rusk to fly back to Paris with a follow-up question: âDoes your order include the bodies of American soldiers in France's cemeteries?â |
| Posted by: Eric Jablow 2004-05-27 3:02:29 PM |
| #7 JFM - WTF?! - that sounds like a scene from some 50s B movie! Is that a popular song in France right now? Things will get better in France, eventually, I'm sure. Just a matter of when. One year? Five years? Two decades?! Anti-Americanism is, basically, built on lies. Rank hypocrisy, by another name. As such, it cannot exist forever. The false morality of those fixed on hatred of America will be exposed one day. You get enough of it here in the UK, too. I'm sure it's not nearly as bad as France, but... I'm feeling your pain, JFM! |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-05-27 2:34:26 PM |
| #6 With that quote, he invalidates the war to rid Europe of a mass-murdering, psychopathic regime and spits on the graves of all the people who lost their lives saving that excuse for a country, France. I will repeat my suggestion again: Bring home all of our soldiers that didn't return from Europe with the end of WW2, namely, those who remain on French soil. Better to do it now, instead of later on, when the task would be much more difficult. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-05-27 1:02:38 PM |
| #5 Jack That was then. Today the parisians have taken control of the regional press and have started brainwashing the rest of French. Last polls show that the gap in anti-americanism betweeen Paris and rest of France has significantly narrowed. And I don't see how it could get better. The other day I went to collect my daughter at her school and I found one of the caretakers was singing to the child: "An american Boeing who scares everyone". My daughter is three years old. |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-05-27 12:49:31 PM |
| #4 My dad came ashore on D-Day (albeit in the later waves) but had a hard time ever talking about it. When he went back to Normandy before he died, the French people were very gracious but then they are Normans and not Parisians. Chirac is a Parisian to the core and a sanctimoneous puff-bag that will try his damnest to make GW look small and insignificant. But I bet GW will make Chirac look like the marginal figure in the world politic he and Schroder really are these days. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2004-05-27 12:32:45 PM |
| #3 Just a few months ago, Chirac stated that war is never justified. With that quote, he invalidates the war to rid Europe of a mass-murdering, psychopathic regime and spits on the graves of all the people who lost their lives saving that excuse for a country, France. Does France imagine that we will not see them for what they are-the kings of ingratitude? |
| Posted by: jules 187 2004-05-27 10:21:31 AM |
| #2 Sorry to ruin the mood, but saw this on the IWM site: Personal story The pigeon Gustav, a âgrizzle cockâ pigeon, was awarded the Dickin Medal for gallantry on D-Day. He was one of six carrier pigeons issued by the RAF to Montague Taylor, a Reuters war correspondent. Gustav delivered the first report of the landings from a ship off the Normandy beachhead. His epic flight back to his loft at Thorney Island in Portsmouth took 5 hours and 16 minutes and covered some 150 miles. RAF Sergeant Harry Halsey, who trained Gustav, was mentioned in despatches for his part in his feat. Gustav met an unfortunate end after the war when his breeder accidentally stepped on him while cleaning his loft. The Dickin Medal, instituted by Mrs Maria Dickin, founder of the Peopleâs Dispensary for Sick Animals in England, is popularly referred to as the animalsâ VC. It is awarded to any animal displaying conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty associated with, or under the control of, any branch of the Armed Forces or Civil Defence units during the Second World War and its aftermath. To date the Dickin Medal has been awarded to 55 animals, of which 32 are pigeons. One for Mucky me old China! http://www.iwm.org.uk/ Again the guns disturbed the hour, Roaring their readiness to avenge, As far inland as Stourton Tower, And Camelot, and starlit Stonehenge. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-05-27 6:01:13 AM |
| #1 My wife and I took a bicycle trip to Holland in 1976. We met up with some young Dutch guys who had been cycle touring in the UK and were heading home, Weirsolo(?) They were great guys and invited us to cycle with them to their home. Thought it was SoCal, with the pool and all. Anyway, The mom of the group took me aside before we left and thanked me for the sacrifice Americans took in the liberation of Holland. Me, being the son of a WW2 vet, and also one that grew up playing army was humbled. That I, a son, would be thanked for the price paid by those so much more...more! Truely a hilite in my life. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-05-27 2:44:28 AM |