ARROMANCHES, France – Near the five beaches where waves of Allied soldiers stormed ashore 60 years ago, world leaders put aside their differences Sunday to commemorate the D-Day invasion that broke Nazi Germany’s grip on continental Europe.
French President Jacques Chirac, a leading critic of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, thanked America for its part in the June 6, 1944, invasion of Normandy, one of the boldest military operations ever and one that led to the defeat of Adolf Hitler.
“France will never forget,” Chirac said. “It will never forget those men who made the supreme sacrifice to liberate our soil, our native land, our continent, from the yoke of Nazi barbarity and its murderous folly.
“Nor will it ever forget its debt to America, its everlasting friend.”
Earlier, Chirac welcomed President Bush at the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, where 9,387 fallen U.S. service members are buried.
“The nations that battled across the continent would become trusted partners in the cause of peace. And our great alliance of freedom is strong, and it is still needed today,” Bush said. “America would do it again for our friends.”
Chirac pinned Legion of Honor medals on veterans from 14 nations in a pomp-filled ceremony at Arromanches, near the midpoint of the five code-named beaches where about 156,000 Allied soldiers stormed in from the English Channel.
As Allied flags fluttered in the wind, Chirac, Bush and leaders of more than a dozen countries and hundreds of dignitaries gave a standing ovation to the veterans, ranging in age from 79 to 94.
“To you, on behalf of all French men and women, on behalf of all the heads of state and government gathered here today and of all freedom-loving people, I express our gratitude, our pride and our admiration,” Chirac said in a passionate speech to the former combatants.
The ceremony was followed by a gathering of leaders from nearly 20 nations, including German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, the first leader of that country to be invited to participate in D-Day ceremonies.
It was on a gray, rainy Tuesday morning 60 years ago that the Allied forces, under the command of Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, dispatched 156,000 U.S., British and Canadian troops to several sites along the coast of northern France in a drive to defeat the Nazis.
There is no definitive D-Day death toll, but estimates range from 2,500 to more than 5,000. Bodies still are unearthed along the Normandy coast.
Although Chirac and Bush delivered the speeches Sunday, the stars of the day were “the boys of Pointe du Hoc,” as President Reagan here in 1984 called the troops.
Among the audience were actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg, whose “Saving Private Ryan” chronicled the landing.
But D-Day veterans received the VIP treatment. “It’s exciting,” said Lester Bauman, 83, of Parma, Ohio, who was a demolition specialist during the war. “This brings back a lot of good and bad memories. … It was a fouled-up mess.”
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