Several of the men wore the decoration of Chevalier (\u201cKnight\u201d) of the Legion d\u2019Honneur.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
We spent a lot of time talking with them and with those who\u00a0accompanied them (including especially the retired military physician, who had a lot to tell).<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I have to admit that\u00a0I teared up a bit at the mere sight of them.\u00a0 (\u201cHow can this be happening?\u201d I asked myself at that point and a few times later.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m Scandinavian! \u00a0We don\u2019t do emotion.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor,\u201d I said to one of them, shaking his hand. \u00a0\u201cOh, rubbish!\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And, another told us, \u201cYou can get medals like these from a \u00a0Cracker Jack box.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the men had been hesitant to come, an escort told me, since\u00a0he considered himself a \u201cD-Day Dodger.\u201d \u00a0He had been en route to the beach in a landing craft early on 6 June and then, next thing he knew, was back in Portsmouth, England, unable to tell how he got there. \u00a0(His craft must have been hit by a mine or a shell.) \u00a0He still can\u2019t remember what happened, but he has felt himself a slacker for seven decades. \u00a0He could not come, he told those who invited him. \u00a0But they pointed out that, after coming back to consciousness in Portsmouth, he had, in fact, still landed\u00a0in France late on the evening of D-Day itself. \u00a0(How, I can\u2019t tell. \u00a0I\u2019m simply relaying what I was sketchily told.)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
We spoke with one very articulate and spry 94-year-old who told us of being in a tank and suddenly finding himself unable to see. \u00a0He was terrified, and prayed \u201cO God, please don\u2019t let me be blind.\u201d \u00a0Then he realized that a German shell had sheared off the top of his tank periscope. \u00a0Once he replaced the part, he was good to go \u2014 and, he told us, profoundly relieved. \u00a0In the chaos, he also told us, each soldier or team had enough to worry about by concentrating on their assigned tasks. \u00a0They had no idea what was going on elsewhere, and no time to think about it.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
We also met the man who has, for years, been the piper for these groups of veterans.\u00a0 He\u2019s old himself now, and no longer plays the bagpipes. \u00a0(He has balance issues, he told us, and he doesn\u2019t want audiences to think that the piper is drunk. \u00a0\u201cDignity is everything,\u201d he said.) \u00a0He\u00a0knew the famous piper at this scene, Bill Millin<\/a>, who figures somewhat prominently in The Longest Day<\/em> and very<\/em> prominently in the lore associated with the landings at Sword Beach and with the holding of Pegasus Bridge. \u00a0There are two sets of pipes on display, one at Pegasus Bridge and one in the United Kingdom, that have been claimed to be the ones he played on Sword and at the bridge. \u00a0This fellow claims that Millin actually used three sets (one being flown in to him by the Royal Air Force a few days after the invasion), but that the primary set was lost. \u00a0As follows: \u00a0On D-Day Plus One, as the troops were resting after taking and holding the bridge, Millin was so happy about their achievement that \u201che was strutting like a peacock\u201d and playing his pipes. \u00a0The soldiers wanted to sleep, and kept telling him to \u201cshut the hell up!\u201d \u00a0Finally, one of them jumped up, ran over to Millin, grabbed the pipes, and threw them into the river. \u00a0I love the story.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a dazzling experience to meet and talk with these self-deprecating men. \u00a0I felt \u2014 we all felt \u2014 that we were in the presence of history. \u00a0And, in a way, of humble but genuine greatness. \u00a0I\u2019ll share some of our photographs of these wonderful old soldiers\u00a0in a few days.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Carentan, Normandy, France<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 We traveled this morning to Pegasus Bridge, inland from Sword Beach, which was prominently featured in the book and the movie of The Longest Day.\u00a0 British forces landed in gliders very near it, disarmed the explosive charges that the Germans had placed to destroy it and render it useless to Allied troops and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>