D-Day: 80th anniversary ceremonies kick off with parachute jump over Normandy
D-Day parachutists: U.S. soldiers parachute during in Carentan-les-Marais, France, on Sunday. The soldiers kicked off the ceremonies for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6. (Lou Benoist/AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
ByBob D'Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
CARENTAN-LES-MARAIS, France — A week of D-Day ceremonies kicked off Sunday over the skies of Normandy, where parachutists jumped from World War II-era planes to mark the 80th anniversary of the largest amphibious invasion in history.
On June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 Allied forces stormed the beaches in France as part of Operation Overlord, an offensive action designed to lay the groundwork to free Europe and ultimately defeat Nazi Germany in 1945, Reuters reported. The landing was followed by the Battle of Normandy as the Allies pushed slowly through France toward Germany.
According to the National D-Day Memorial Necrology Project website, 4,415 Allied forces -- including 2,502 Americans -- were killed on the first day at Normandy.
A mass parachute jump over Normandy kicks off commemorations for the 80th anniversary of D-Dayhttps://t.co/Kap8q0xWrZ
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Many of the surviving soldiers from that day are in their late 90s and older, and the number of veterans continues to dwindle, The Associated Press reported.
“We realize we’re getting to the end of our time,” 99-year-old Jack Foy told CNN.
Major commemorations are held every five years, and government officials concede that this year’s event could be the last to involve living veterans, according to the cable news outlet.
“We are perfectly aware that for these centenarians, this is maybe the last chance to return to the beaches where they landed, where they fought and where their brothers-in-arms fell,” Gen. Michel Delion, the CEO of the French government agency in charge of the French commemoration efforts, Mission Liberation, told CNN.
Leaders from around the world, including President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, will attend the ceremonies at Normandy, The Washington Post reported. Other leaders include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, according to the newspaper. Britain’s King Charles, Queen Camilla and Prince William are also expected to attend, the BBC reported.
Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, were not extended invitations because of that country’s war against Ukraine, the Post reported. Putin attended the 70th-anniversary ceremonies, according to the newspaper.
Approximately 4,500 guests are expected, including about 200 veterans, Reuters reported. The veterans will mostly come from the U.S., United Kingdom, France and Canada.
U.S. Army veteran Jake Larson, who is 101, is among those returning to Normandy, according to the news organization. John Desrosiers, the director of international operations for Veterans Affairs Canada, said the oldest veterans who will attend the ceremonies are 104, CNN reported.
On Sunday, C-47s dropped 70 parachute jumpers, all dressed in World War II-style uniforms, the AP reported. A large crowd cheered as they were serenaded by tunes from Glenn Miller and Edith Piaf, according to the news organization.
Two of the planes -- christened “That’s All, Brother” and “Placid Lassie, " were D-Day veterans, the AP reported. They took off from Duxford, England, for the 90-minute flight to Carentan, France. The Normandy town was where many paratroopers landed shortly after midnight on D-Day. Many jumped into the darkness and were scattered far from their objectives, according to the news organization.
They landed before the naval and aerial assaults to help secure roads and bridges, and to destroy gun emplacements that put the Allies landing on the beaches -- called Omaha, Juno, Gold, Utah and Sword -- in peril, the AP reported.
“World War II, especially in Europe, becomes this ongoing battle from basically the moment troops land on the beaches of D-Day until Germany ultimately surrenders,” Ben Brands, a military historian at the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), told CNN. “The human mind needs to cut that up into digestible stories, and D-Day is a really powerful, discrete event that is so critical for everything that comes after.
“There’s just so many powerful stories that come out of D-Day.”
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D-Day anniversary World War II history enthusiasts parade in WWII vehicles to commemorate the 78th anniversary of D-Day that led to the liberation of France and Europe from the German occupation, in Sainte-Mere-L'Eglise, Normandy, Sunday, June, 5, 2022. On Monday, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, home to the gravesites of 9,386 who died fighting on D-Day and in the operations that followed, will host U.S. veterans and thousands of visitors in its first major public ceremony since 2019. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary World War II history enthusiasts parade in WWII vehicles to commemorate the 78th anniversary of D-Day that led to the liberation of France and Europe from the German occupation, in Sainte-Mere-L'Eglise, Normandy, Sunday, June, 5, 2022. On Monday, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, home to the gravesites of 9,386 who died fighting on D-Day and in the operations that followed, will host U.S. veterans and thousands of visitors in its first major public ceremony since 2019. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary US WWII veteran Ray Wallace, of the 507th PIR 82rd Airborne, looks on at the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mere-L'Eglise, Normandy, Sunday, June, 5 2022. On Monday, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, home to the gravesites of 9,386 who died fighting on D-Day and in the operations that followed, will host U.S. veterans and thousands of visitors in its first major public ceremony since 2019. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary WWII veteran Charles Shay, 97, and Julia Kelly, a Gulf war veteran, pay tribute to soldiers during a D-Day commemoration ceremony of the 78th anniversary for those who helped end World War II, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary U.S. soldiers hold French and U.S. flags during the 78th anniversary of D-Day ceremony, in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial of Colleville-sur-Mer, Monday, June, 6, 2022. The ceremonies pay tribute to the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the U.S., Canada and elsewhere who landed on French beaches on June 6, 1944, to restore freedom to Europe after Nazi occupation. (AP Photo/ Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary US WWII veteran Ray Wallace, of the 507th PIR 82rd Airborne, looks on as World War II history enthusiasts parade in WWII vehicles to commemorate the 78th anniversary of D-Day that led to the liberation of France and Europe from the German occupation, in Sainte-Mere-L'Eglise, Normandy, Sunday, June, 5, 2022. On Monday, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, home to the gravesites of 9,386 who died fighting on D-Day and in the operations that followed, will host U.S. veterans and thousands of visitors in its first major public ceremony since 2019. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary WWII veteran Charles Shay, 97, right, and Gulf war veteran Julia Kelly pay tribute to soldiers during a D-Day commemoration ceremony of the 78th anniversary for those who helped end World War II, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP Photo/ Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary French and US flags are on half masts as crowds of French and international visitors wait for the 78th anniversary of D-Day ceremony, in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial of Colleville-sur-Mer, Monday, June, 6, 2022. The ceremonies pay tribute to the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the U.S., Canada and elsewhere who landed on French beaches on June 6, 1944, to restore freedom to Europe after Nazi occupation. (AP Photo/ Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary World War II history enthusiasts parade in WWII vehicles to commemorate the 78th anniversary of D-Day that led to the liberation of France and Europe from the German occupation, in Sainte-Mere-L'Eglise, Normandy, Sunday, June, 5, 2022. On Monday, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, home to the gravesites of 9,386 who died fighting on D-Day and in the operations that followed, will host U.S. veterans and thousands of visitors in its first major public ceremony since 2019. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary WWII veteran Charles Shay, 97 pays tribute to soldiers during a D-Day commemoration ceremony of the 78th anniversary for those who helped end World War II, in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, Monday, June 6, 2022. (AP Photo/ Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
D-Day anniversary World War II history enthusiasts parade in WWII vehicles to commemorate the 78th anniversary of D-Day that led to the liberation of France and Europe from the German occupation, in Sainte-Mere-L'Eglise, Normandy, Sunday, June, 5, 2022. On Monday, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, home to the gravesites of 9,386 who died fighting on D-Day and in the operations that followed, will host U.S. veterans and thousands of visitors in its first major public ceremony since 2019. (AP Photo/Jeremias Gonzalez) (Jeremias Gonzalez/AP)
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D-Day 80th anniversary: The RAF Red Arrows display team perform during the IWM Duxford Air Show in Cambridgeshire on June 2. (Joe Giddens - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: The RAF Red Arrows display team performs during the IWM Duxford Air Show in Cambridgeshire. (Joe Giddens - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: The RAF Red Arrows display team perform during the IWM Duxford Air Show in Cambridgeshire on June 2. (Joe Giddens - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: U.S. soldiers parachute in Carentan-les-Marais, France, on June 2, 2024. The soldiers kicked off the ceremonies for the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6. (Lou Benoist/AFP/AFP via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: U.S soldiers parachute from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft fly in Carentan-les-Marais, France, on June 2, 2024. (LOU BENOIST/aFP/AFP via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: Soldiers watch parachutists from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft over Normandy. (LOU BENOIST/aFP/AFP via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: Round canopy parachutists in England prepare to load onto a Douglas C47 aircraft, known as the Dakota, which became the world's best known transport aircraft and saw widespread use by the Allies during World War II. (Joe Giddens - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: Round canopy parachutists prepare to load onto a Douglas C47 aircraft before flying over Normandy. (Joe Giddens - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: A parachutist waits to board Douglas C47 aircraft. (Joe Giddens - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: Round canopy parachutists prepare to load onto a Douglas C47 aircraft. (Joe Giddens - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: Soldiers gather around "That's All, Brother," a World War II era C47 aircraft. (HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: A man with the French Foreign Legion Metal Parachute Wings tattoo on his head is seen near the Bayeux War Cemetery in Normandy. (NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: The Sainte-Mere-Eglise church with a well-known replica of U.S. paratrooper John Steele of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, whose parachute caught on the spire of the church. Area residents are preparing for the 80th anniversary of D-Day this week. (NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: Cows look on as an UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter flies over Carentan-les-Marais, ahead of commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day. (LOU BENOIST/AFP via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: Enthusiasts wearing replica WWII military attire stand atop tanks in a reenactors' camp. (LOU BENOIST/AFP via Getty Images)
D-Day 80th anniversary: Supermarine Spitfire N3200 lands during the IWM Duxford Air Show in Cambridgeshire on Sunday. (Joe Giddens - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images)
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