Navy Monument Dedicated at Normandy

French jets flyover Navy monument dedication.



A little break from all elections all the time...Lost in the clutter of election coverage, comes some good news from France:

SAINT-MARIE-DU-MONT, France — It’s been more than 64 years since Irving Shapiro was last in Normandy, and he had at least a couple of good reasons for not wanting to go back.

Each of them earned him a Purple Heart on D-Day, June 6, 1944, when, as a sailor aboard LST 492, he made two trips to and from Omaha Beach —Bloody Omaha, as it’s sometimes called — to drop off men and equipment and to pick up the dead and wounded.

Now in a wheelchair, something drew him back to Normandy and to the memories he said he’s tried hard not to think about.

On Saturday, the first official monument to the members of the U.S. Navy who took part in the Normandy invasion was dedicated, unveiled before a crowd of at least 1,000 spectators, including a handful of U.S. and French veterans and the widows of two men who had participated in the invasion.

Cross Posted at Say Anything