The ceremonies of June 6, 1999 (Fifty-fifth anniversary)
Commemoration of the 55th anniversary of the LandingRead the rewritten text
This reading version has been rewritten from the newspaper clipping. Connecting phrases and any reconstructed words are not a verbatim quotation.
For the fifty-fifth anniversary of the Landing, Vierville was among the sites selected by the Landing Committee and the U.S. military. The municipality announced several demonstrations and the return of veterans of the 29th Division and the National Guard.
A permanent exhibition, Omaha D-Day, presented equipment, objects and documents related to the Landing in the former museum. Collection military vehicles were to be exhibited in front of the town hall on June 5 and 6.
On Saturday, June 5, the program provided for the arrival of the veterans of the 29th Division at 3:30 p.m., and then those of the National Guard at 4 p.m. At 4:30 p.m., a deposit of wreaths at the National Guard monument and the inauguration of Place Jean-Sainteny, former resistance fighter, in the presence of the civil and military authorities of the allied countries, were to take place.
On Sunday, June 6, a wreath deposit was announced at 10:30 a.m. at the 29th Division Monument, followed at 11 a.m. by a wreath filing and speeches at the National Guard monument, in the presence of the Minister of Veterans Affairs and representatives of the United States.
View the archive imageDownload the rewritten text
Original OCR text
The original OCR text is kept for comparison with the image. Its reading order and some words may be incorrect.
A tribute to the veterans of the 29th DivisionRead the rewritten text
This reading version has been rewritten from the newspaper clipping. Connecting phrases and any reconstructed words are not a verbatim quotation.
The municipality of Vierville-sur-Mer, the American army and the alumni association of the 29th Infantry Division organized a ceremony together on a Sunday morning. When asked by Jean-Marie Oxéant asking who was present at the same place fifty-five years earlier, several veterans stood up, warmly applauded by the public.
The mayor affirmed the will to continue with the children the memory work of the GIs. He evoked the reception of veterans, exhibitions, erection and maintenance of steles, as well as the twinning between Bedford and the eleven municipalities of the Omaha area as a means of transmitting this memory.
After the interventions of Major General Carrol Childers, commander of the 29th Division, and Major General Gordon Stump, president of the Alumni Association, the children of the Trévières school sang under the direction of Jacques Heleine. In particular, they performed Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" in English, an attention appreciated by veterans.
To thank the mayor and the municipality, the Association of Alumni of the 29th Division offered a book devoted to this unit, entitled "Let's go 29".
View the archive imageDownload the rewritten text
Original OCR text
The original OCR text is kept for comparison with the image. Its reading order and some words may be incorrect.
American high school students study the Landing on the sceneRead the rewritten text
This reading version has been rewritten from the newspaper clipping. Connecting phrases and any reconstructed words are not a verbatim quotation.
The American association Normandy Alliés had organized a three-week study trip devoted to the landings and the liberation of Normandy. French high school students were initially supposed to participate, but their arrival had not been possible: the group brought together only Americans, accompanied by historians and veterans.
The course began on July 3 in Washington, then led the participants to Bedford, Lexington and Baltimore, before London, Plymouth and Slapton. In France, they had joined Grandcamp-Maisy.
One Thursday, members of Omaha Bedford received and guided them to the landing beaches. A meal allowed exchanges with witnesses of the Landing and the Liberation. The group then went to the Colleville military cemetery for a ceremony and a visit.
The rest of the program announced Isigny on Friday, Trévières on Saturday, Saint-Lô on Sunday and Monday, then Caen on Tuesday. The organizers wanted to renew this first exchange based on the study of history every year.
View the archive imageDownload the rewritten text
Original OCR text
The original OCR text is kept for comparison with the image. Its reading order and some words may be incorrect.
July 1999 young Americans visit the beaches