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What a difference a year makes [1]
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Date: 2025-04-27
Peace is what we all want, also seen at the municipal gardens in Coutances
Last year — 2024 — was the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. It was a h-u-g-e event in Normandie, France, where the landings occurred. Festivals, dances, concerts, shows, and, of course, somber remembrances of the lives lost: both among the liberators and among the civilian population of the area.
The United States was prominent in all of this, given the key role the country played in making those events a success. People remember this, even 80 years on. One can see French people sporting Airborne insignia on their jackets. There are countless WWII era jeeps and trucks that are brought out for special events and driven around, often by French people dressed up as American soldiers and WACs. Occasionally I’ll see a modern car or van with American military insignia painted on it. Some of this stuff would get a person accused of “stolen valor” in the U.S., but here, it’s intended as a high compliment and a sincere “Merci pour votre sacrifice.”
There’s a town near Saint-Lô, which itself was 95 percent destroyed by Allied bombings and German artillery — it’s called Dangy (pronounced don-zhee). Windows in the city hall were painted as were store fronts:
Crèperie with French and American flags painted on its window
As it turned out, Dangy had a terrific exposition in its Community Center with old newspapers, memorabilia, and well-done displays describing the events associated with the liberation. They had a camp set up with American tents, jeeps, trucks and other vehicles, including folks dressed up in WWII era uniforms:
American military camp reenactment, Dangy, Normandie, France
For months after the celebrations died down, the Dangy City Hall flew the Stars and Stripes along with the Normandie flag, the French flag and the Ukrainian flag. The Community Center even had the American flag posted above the French tricolore.
Flags posted at Dangy Community Center, 80th anniversary of D-Day
As part of the celebrations, we attended a ceremony honoring the officer leading the troops who liberated Coutances, Col. Louis Storck. He and his driver were killed in Coutances after driving over a mine while trying to capture fleeing German troops.
Turnout was good, with dozens of local citizens, a contingent of re-enactors in uniform, and a guest visit by Helen Patton, General Patton’s granddaughter.
Quite a turnout in a town of fewer than 10,000 people.
The town was full of American military stuff. Here’s a shot of American WWII-era vehicles parked along the roadside near the Col. Storck memorial:
WWII-era vehicles parked along a roadside in Coutances, France
Coutances, which is close to where we live, was badly damaged by the battle of liberation. It fared better than the larger Saint-Lô, which was dubbed The Capital of Ruins by Samuel Beckett.
Ruins of Saint-Lô, 1944. Note the soldier in the foreground to give a sense of scale.
Even today, 80 years after its liberation, the Coutances City Hall (Hôtel de Ville) bears scars of the gunfire associated with the town’s liberation:
It’s a pretty grand city hall for a town of fewer than 10,000 people
So here we are. A year later. Last year, the United States was praised and honored. This year, as the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII approaches on May 8 (a national holiday in France), I think perhaps it won’t be honored quite as fondly.
You see, the voters of the United States elected as their President a felon who seems determined to implement Vladimir Putin’s fondest dream: to undermine and weaken the powerful post-WWII alliance between Europe, Canada, and the U.S. that served as an immovable and undefeatable object blocking Putin’s dream of recreating the old Soviet Union in a post-Soviet era.
Last year I heard much talk of the U.S., the sacrifices of its soldiers and their families, and the deep gratitude and honor owed to them. This year, I hear much talk about how the felon and his tariffs are harming Europe and how the chaotic and unpredictable actions of ICE are making Europe’s citizens unwelcome.
It’s a sad situation. It didn’t have to be this way, but too many stupid people voted in a stupid way and here we are. An era of division and lost trust. Trust that may never again be granted.
What a price. What a precious gift that has been torn asunder and thrown away.
What a difference a year makes.
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