D-Day 65th anniversary
Photos and speeches from the commemorations
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Photos from the 65th anniversary of the Normandy landings
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American sector
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Anglo-Canadian sector
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Miscellaneous
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| Amfreville (US paratroopers)
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Arromanches
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65th anniversary of the Normandy landings: a moment of reflection and remembrance
It has been 65 years since Normandy experienced the clash of arms, the echoes of which still resonate today on the beaches and parachute drop zones of Calvados and La Manche. Sixty-five years ago, the immense Allied war machine swept over the Atlantic Wall, hastening the defeat of Nazi totalitarianism. Sixty-five years ago, the civilians of Normandy saw American, British, Canadian and French troops liberate their towns and villages at the cost of bloodshed.
Today, as every year since Tuesday 6 June 1944, we remember. We remember those young soldiers in their twenties thrown into the cauldron of war for an ideal that was beyond them. We remember the civilians of Normandy who suffered during the war and who also paid dearly for freedom. We remember those who worked behind the scenes to make the Allied victory possible. We remember that freedom was won through the courage of a few who fought for humanity. We remember. And we do not want to forget.
Today we gather to pay tribute to those men who fought on our soil against a despotic enemy. We also gather to become more aware of the value of freedom and peace, which we may too often tend to take for granted; indeed, it has been nearly 65 years since our territory has known the horrors of war. The commemorations in Normandy are not only a look back at the past, but also a look towards the future. Hand in hand between different generations, especially the younger ones, to whom we owe it to pass on the torch of remembrance.
This is why the inaugurations of memorials and monuments are multiplying in Normandy today. Because we must help memory. Remembrance is not innate. Nor should it be biased by strictly political or ideological considerations. Remembrance must be nurtured. Veterans, the true eyewitnesses to the historical events we commemorate, are dwindling in number every year: soon, only memorial stones and monuments, historians, writers and website managers will remain to pass on historical knowledge to future generations. This is a heavy responsibility, which must be taken with the utmost seriousness.
During the summer of 2009, the world paid tribute to veterans. Let us never stop doing so. Let us spare a special thought for their comrades who fell in battle and are buried in the military cemeteries of Normandy.
Marc Laurenceau
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