(Deauville) “It was a terrible day. It was only blood and water “around the boats which landed on June 6, 1944 in Normandy: like Richard Dick Rung, around thirty American veterans of the Second World War landed Thursday in Deauville to participate in the commemorations of this key stage of the Liberation.
Posted at 2:47 p.m.
“It’s so important to me. It affected me you know. D-Day sometimes for me is not 78 years ago, it’s yesterday,” says the 97-year-old veteran, seated in a wheelchair, “Omaha Beach 6-6-44” cap on his head.
This resident of the State of New York landed Thursday with about thirty veterans to participate in the commemorations of the 78e anniversary of the landing organized until Monday.
They were welcomed to the quiet sounds of a marching band by dozens of people, local elected officials and American soldiers. Most descended the stairs of the plane with difficulty before getting into wheelchairs, AFP found.
The trip is a major effort for these nearly century-old men. “I came shaking so to speak. We come here for several days. It’s a lot. I miss my wife,” adds the veteran with a smile.
“When our boat arrived, there were bodies everywhere. There were a lot of wounded that we couldn’t take in the boat because we were loaded,” continues Richard Dick Rung.
Like many of his fellow veterans, he invites the younger generation to “act for peace”, even if “it’s not always easy” and “I know what the Russians are doing at the moment”. In 1944, “I was 19, I didn’t know,” adds this resident of Pennsylvania.
“I landed with 30 friends at Utah Beach. It’s the first time I’ve come back” in 78 years, explains Dick Ramsey, 98, his throat tight with emotion, before adding in French “thank you very much”.
Wallace, known as “Wally King”, 98, was an airplane pilot and found himself near Sainte-Mère Eglise during the summer of 1944, according to the Best Defense Foundation, the American association which organized their trip.
He returns for the first time to Normandy, for the men of his unit who died during the conflict. “They are the ones who must be honored”, their “sacrifices”, he underlines.