The Gateways of Omaha pay tribute to Michel Brissard

The Passerelles d'Omaha held their general assembly on a Saturday morning at the town hall, in the presence of Mayor Antoine de Bellaigue and municipal councilors. Before the annual review, President Marie-Christine Costy and the members observed a minute of recollection for Michel Brissard, who died on November 24.

The article recalls his action to save floating landing bridges, found in a DDE depot in Indre-et-Loire and threatened with reinforcement. He had brought them back to Vierville, facing Omaha. Five bridges had been reconstituted on the site for the sixtieth anniversary, June 6, 2004. The cut indicates that they had been stored since 1944; this precision belongs to the story it reports.

Antoine de Bellaigue announced the holding in the municipality of the national ceremony organized by the Landing Committee for the sixty-ninth anniversary. On this occasion, the association wanted to reconstitute a camp on the neighboring land and propose a picnic on June 8.

The members requested the administrative support of the town hall to obtain the classification of the footbridges. Antoine and Fabien, the sons of the deceased, were particularly keen on this recognition in tribute to their father. An explanatory panel was also desired.

For 2013, the association was considering a New Year's Eve and a lottery. Several weekends were to be devoted to cleaning and repainting the walkways to prepare for their tenth anniversary in 2014.

Reconstructed or uncertain passages:
- Michel Brissard is qualified as honorary president in the text and vice-president in the legend. The two functions are not arbitrarily decided. The storage "since 1944" is an affirmation of this cut not independently verified.

Archive image: https://vierville.cordelle.eu/PhDoc13/2012Dec1-PasserellesOmahaAG.jpg