D-Day Veterans Visit Normandy for 80th Anniversary
Allied veterans of World War II have begun arriving in France, where they will converge on the shores of Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the historic D-Day invasion on Thursday....
Facts
- Allied veterans of World War II have begun arriving in France, where they will converge on the shores of Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the historic D-Day invasion on Thursday.1
- For many of the former warriors, many of whom are over 100 years old, this may be a final visit to the beach to commemorate the June 6, 1944 battle.2
- With the anniversary falling amid the Ukraine war, France has refused to invite Russia. Heads of state expected to attend include Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Pres. Joe Biden.3
- William Cameron, an anti-aircraft gunner on the only Canadian corvette to reach Normandy on D-Day, died Sunday at 100, a day before he was to go to France.4
- A group of around 25 from the UK also made the trip, traveling by ferry from Portsmouth to carry a commemorative torch from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for a vigil in Bayeux on Wednesday.5
- D-Day saw 23K Allied airborne troops fly over the English Channel to drop into Nazi-occupied Normandy, as well as over 132K soldiers invade the beach on ships. Allied forces invaded five beaches that day, codenamed Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword.2
Sources: 1NBC, 2Politico, 3Reuters.com, 4Guardian and 5BBC News.
Narratives
- Anti-Russia narrative, as provided by Kyiv Post. For the third straight year, Russia will not be represented at the D-Day anniversary ceremony in France. This is despite the fact that the then-USSR suffered unimaginably in the war. Moscow may use its exclusion for propaganda, but Russia's aggression in Ukraine must carry a political and symbolic cost.
- Pro-Russia narrative, as provided by RT. The West has not only disrespected Russia by not inviting it to Normandy this year but US Pres. Biden has tried to minimize Russia's role in World War II. The Soviet Union lost some 27M lives to help bring victory to the Allied forces, but, thanks to modern-day Western stunts, Washington is trying to whitewash history to minimize the positive role Russia has played in defeating evil.
