Men in a vintage US WWII uniforms stand behind flowers left at Les Braves monument after a D-Day 76th anniversary ceremony in Saint Laurent sur Mer, Normandy, France, Saturday, June 6, 2020. Due to coronavirus measures many ceremonies and memorials have been cancelled in the region with the exception of very small gatherings. ( Associated Press)
The loneliest of D-Day remembrances is hit by pandemic
COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, France — At daybreak on Saturday, Charles Shay stood lonesome without any fellow veteran on the very same beach where he waded ashore 76 years ago, part of one of the most epic battles in military historic that came to be known as D-Day and turned the tide of World War II.
Compared to last year, when many tens of thousands came to the northern French beaches of Normandy to cheer the dwindling number of veterans and celebrate three quarters of a century of liberation from Nazi oppression, the coronavirus lockdown turned this year’s remembrance into one of the eeriest ever.
“I am very sad now,” said Shay, who was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic when he landed on Omaha Beach under horrific machine-gun fire and shells. “Because of the virus, nobody can be here. I would like to see more of us here,” he told the Associated Press.
Normally, 95-year-old Shay would be meeting other survivors of the 1944 battle and celebrating with locals and dignitaries alike, all not far from his home close to the beaches that defined his life.
Read more from the Associated Press here,
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