Today marks the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings on five beaches in Normandy by Allied forces, beginning the liberation of France and Northern Europe, and helping crush the Nazi war machine already being driven back to its own territory by the Soviet Red Army in the east.
Even as fewer veterans return to the sites of the battle, thousands of others, from all over, take their place. This summer is expected to bring even more, and a series of events is planned in a number of Normandy towns and cities. HERE is a link to a list of ceremonies and other events, compiled by the Normandy tourism office.
TravelGumbo’s own DrFumblefinger posted last October on visiting the D-Day beaches as well as on other sites in Normandy, including Mont-Saint-Michel and Bayeux, not far from the D-Day beaches and home of the famous Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the invasion of England by William the Conqueror.
Funny…my father, who arrived a few months later, also had that feeling about camping. And then later, after 6 months as liaison to a South Korean corps commander, he swore off rice for many years…
My father was in D-Day plus 5. Like a lot in the greatest generation, he spoke little about the experience only to say that he did enough camping to last him his lifetime.
I visited the Normandy beaches as a young man but I’d like to go back in better weather.