Summary of the commemorations in Sainte-Mère-Eglise – 5 June 2004

60th anniversary of the Normandy landings

Sainte-Mère-Eglise - Commémorations 2004 - 60ème anniversaire du débarquement et de la bataille de Normandie. Photo : D-Day Overlord

Summary of the commemorations in Sainte-Mère-Eglise - 2004 1 Photos of Sainte-Mère-Eglise in 2004

Sainte-Mère-Eglise, 18:00

An impressive number of tourists and history buffs have gathered in the small town of Sainte-Mère-Eglise. It’s almost impossible to get from one point to another on foot in the Normandy village, and nearly impossible by car. Musical groups have set up shop throughout the town, entertaining the crowd, almost all of whom are returning from La Fière, three kilometers from Sainte-Mère-Eglise, after witnessing the parachute drop that took place there that afternoon.

Sainte-Mère-Eglise, 19:00

American veterans who fought near Sainte-Mère-Eglise or who were pilots and parachuted men into Normandy in the early hours of Tuesday, June 6, 1944, arrived around 7:00 p.m. in the church square, where seats awaited them, along with a small ceremony in their honor. As they made their way to the seats arranged with their backs to the church and facing a platform, everyone present applauded together for several minutes, a collective, solemn, and moving gesture of thanks.

Children on the platform began by reciting a poem they had composed especially for the occasion. Then the mayor of Sainte-Mère-Eglise delivered his speech in front of the veterans and the thousands of spectators gathered in the small village square. He exchanged gifts with the officials of the American army, once again cementing the friendship between the airborne troops and the small town known worldwide for its famous bell tower.

The men of the Patrouille de France, dressed in their blue flight suits and who had flown over Sainte-Mère-Eglise a few hours earlier, were warmly applauded by a crowd ready to celebrate one of the most important historical events and those who experienced and shaped it.

Then a choir composed of about twenty American paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division began to sing the famous paratroopers’ aria “Look at Below!” This was followed by a choir composed of about twenty residents from the Sainte-Mère-Eglise area who sang “Liberté” (freedom).

Sainte-Mère-Eglise, 20h00

France Télévision 2 begins the 8 o’clock news in the garden of the Airborne Troops Museum, followed, 45 minutes later, by a special program on the Normandy landings presented by Michel Drucker and Thierry Ardisson, featuring numerous veterans of various nationalities as well as several French and Canadian celebrity entertainers.

At 11:45 p.m., a huge fireworks display illuminates the sky over Sainte-Mère-Eglise, simultaneously with 24 other Normandy towns, to symbolize the conflagration of the coast on the night of June 5-6, 1944, following the Allied bombing. It concludes an extraordinary day of commemorations, both festive and solemn.

 

 

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Author: Marc Laurenceau – Reproduction subject to authorization of the author – Contact