D-DAY: 80th Anniversary

It’s doubtful that anyone reading this will ever participate in an enterprise approaching the magnitude of the D-Day Invasion on 6 JUNE 1944.

Last month, I traveled to Portsmouth, England, where thousands of allied soldiers anxiously awaited the epic boat ride across the channel for the invasion of France. From there, my friends and I re-enacted the cross-channel approaches to Sword Beach on the Normandy coast at Caan. This was a bucket list event long overdue.

Photographs of Lt. Colonel JP Morgan, (retired) at Portsmouth, England, en route to Normandy

In Normandy, I ran into a couple of French civilians who amazed me with their recollection of this event eighty years ago. I will elaborate on one of them briefly, but first, let me talk a little about the veterans attending today and the dignitaries on hand to commemorate this event.

Today on 6 June – a handful of actual D-Day veterans are making the same trip – probably for the last time. Of the 16.4 million Americans who served in the military during WWII, fewer than 100,000 are expected to be still alive. Most surviving vets from the Allied forces are likely to be at least 97 years old with most in triple digits. Their advanced age isn’t stopping them from making the transatlantic journey to honor the approximately 160,000 Allied troops who, eight decades ago, carried out the largest seaborne invasion in human history.

Approximately 24 American veterans who were part of the D-Day landings on Omaha and Utah beaches are in Normandy one last time. With major commemorations held every five years, everyone concedes that this year’s event could be the last to involve living veterans.

There are 4 Canadian veterans attending events today that stormed ashore on Juno, Sword, and Gold beaches. The youngest traveling with the group is 98, and the eldest is 104. The British defense ministry reports that 40 WWII veterans will attend the various events in Normandy.

Those vets will be joined by about 25 heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. King Charles III and his son, Prince William, will attend ceremonies in the British sector. Representatives from Belgium, Monaco, the Netherlands, and Norway royal families are also expected to attend.

Having recently traveled along the two-lane roads that traverse the Normandy coastline through the many sleepy towns, I cannot imagine the congestion this week – especially with the tight security.

Much of that tight security will be in the Caan area – where King Charles is attending the British landing areas and visiting the site of the commando assault on Pegasus Bridge.

He will most certainly meet with one of the French citizens I alluded to. Ms. Arlette Gondree, is the owner of the Café Gondree. The Café Gondrée is a small coffeehouse in the French community of Bénouville astride the strategic Pegasus bridge that was the scene of an intense midnight assault by British commandos on the outskirts of Caan. The commando assault was witnessed by little 5-year-old Arlette Gondree from her cellar. Arlette is the daughter of two French resistance fighters and fondly remembers being the first family to be liberated on 5 June 1944. Quick math reveals that she is indeed 85 years old, but she is sharp as ever and enjoys regaling visitors with her tales of that night and the tense days that followed. She has welcomed veterans, heads of state, and tourists like me ever since.

I’m making this uncustomary brief to remind you of this important date and allow ample time to raise a glass to the allied heroes of 80 years ago today who liberated the coastal towns of Normandy, France, in the epic D-DAY invasion!