Veteran Charlie Baldwin beams as he passes a crowd of well-wishers from the Normandy commune of Houlgate, France, who turned out to greet veterans passing through on Monday, June 3, 2024, to attend the D-Day commemorations. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
HOULGATE, France — World War II veterans exchanged hugs and handshakes with an enthusiastic crowd of officials and high school students who greeted them as they arrived in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
“You are at home here,” local education official Bertrand Deniaud told the nearly 70 veterans, who traveled to France on a tour organized by American Airlines.
Deniaud said the local schools teach high school students that many of those who fought and died in the June 6, 1944, invasion were only a bit older than them.
Several veterans said they were deeply moved by the ceremony.
The welcoming committee featured men dressed in American WWII uniforms and women in 1940s-style dresses.
They formed a line and cheered the veterans as each got off buses and walked or rode in wheelchairs for lunch at a municipal sports facility, which was decorated with French and American flags.
WWII veteran Joe Kallist shakes hands on Monday, June 3, 2024, with a well-wisher from the Normandy commune of Houlgate, France. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
World War II veteran Clarence Holland waves to well-wishers in Houlgate, France, on Monday, June 3, 2024. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
Women in WWII-era styles applaud as veteran Ray Falke passes by in Houlgate, France, on Monday, June 3, 2024. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
“It was very impressive,” said Frank Kohnke, 98, who jumped into Normandy with the 101st Airborne Division and was wounded three times during the war.
Kohnke said he enlisted at age 16, which was possible with parental consent. He said he forged his mother’s signature and when the Army found out she was arrested.
“When they arrested her, I had to admit it was me who forged the signature,” he said. As a result, he said, the Army shaved two years off his service record.
Modern-day Houlgate is a resort community on the English Channel — the waterway that ships used to carry thousands of American, British, Canadian, French and other Allied soldiers to the Normandy beaches, where thousands were killed or wounded in the landings.
A welcoming committee for American World War II veterans, including Don Graves, was arranged by citizens of the Normandy commune of Houlgate, France. It included men dressed in WWII U.S. uniforms, some women in 1940s fashion and schoolchildren. The commune also provided the veterans, who passed through on Monday, June 3, 2024, with lunch in a community gym. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
During the war, Houlgate was part of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler’s “Atlantic Wall” of fortifications the Germans hoped would stop the invasion at the water’s edge.
A British commando raid in November 1941 failed to destroy gun emplacements, which were constructed even before the U.S. entered the war the following month, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Houlgate is about 20 miles east of the D-Day landing sites. The Germans held out here for about two months before it was occupied by British and Belgian troops.
The veterans traveling with American Airlines flew to Paris on Saturday and attended various events in the French capital over the weekend.
The group includes veterans of the Army, Navy and Marines, some of whom served in the Pacific.
It also includes veterans of the Merchant Marine, who kept supplies moving to the war front despite Axis attacks, and two “Rosie the Riveters,” women who took defense jobs so the men could go and fight.
Marty Rodriguez is among the WWII veterans greeted on Monday, June 3, 2024, by the crowd in Houlgate, France. (Robert H. Reid/Stars and Stripes)
