Saturday’s anniversary will be one of the loneliest remembrances ever, as the pandemic is keeping almost everyone away – from government leaders to frail veterans who might not get another chance for a final farewell to their unlucky comrades
Charles Norman Shay, D-Day veteran and Penobscot Elder from Maine, poses on the dune overlooking Omaha Beach prior to a ceremony at his memorial in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, on June 5, 2020.All too many have been, for 76 years since that fateful June 6 on France’s Normandy beaches, when allied troops in 1944 turned the course of the Second World War and went on to defeat fascism in Europe in one of the most remarkable feats in military history.
Shay, 95, lives in France close to the beach where he and so many others landed in 1944. He knows of no U.S. veterans making the trip overseas to observe D-Day this year. In a forlorn scene, a gardener tended to the parched grass around the small monument for the war dead, while Pottier, the local mayor, was getting the French tricolour to flutter next to the Stars and Stripes.
It has also affected the younger generations who turn out every year to mark the occasion. Most have been barred from travelling to the windswept coasts of Normandy. The acrid smell of wartime-era jeep exhaust fumes and the rumble of old tanks filled the air as parades of vintages vehicles went from village to village. The tiny roads between the dunes, hedges and apple orchards were clogged for hours, if not days.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Former Health Minister Jane Philpott To Lead Ontario’s Pandemic Data ProjectThis is one of the many ways the physician and former health minister has contributed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more »
Probe into Ontario councillor’s trip to New Brunswick during COVID-19 pandemic continues despite apologyThe province launched the probe after learning that Stephen Wright, a city councillor in Peterborough, Ont., had travelled to New Brunswick last month
Read more »
Retired Calgary couple stranded in India by COVID-19 pandemic robbed and killed: familyFamily tried registering Davinder and Kirpal Minhas online for a Canadian government repatriation flight, but couldn’t because they were not citizens
Read more »
Spiritual needs of vulnerable federal inmates unmet during pandemic: chaplainsFederal prison chaplains say the spiritual needs of inmates have become an unnecessary casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic at a time when offenders are feeling particularly vulnerable and alone.
Read more »
'Searching for the guilty': Armenian PM asks citizens to share photos of pandemic rule breakersArmenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is asking citizens to share photos on social media of pandemic rule breakers as the country faces a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Read more »