On Mrs. Glennie Sims’ initiative four members shared their experiences during the four years of the Occupation and on the Liberation with these Cadets.
D-Day Future American soldiers visiting Normandy
underneath the photo : Meeting between American students, future military elite, and the association Les Fleurs de la Mémoire.
The week that is coming to an end marks the completion of an important work on remembrance for a future American soldiers class. Students at West Point, a prestigious military academy in New-York, they came to honor their forebears who landed here on June 1944 and to understand the Battle of Normandy.
Concurrently with their numerous visits in Norman land, the students also met with the association Les Fleurs de la Mémoire, whose president is Georges Pierre Joret. « This is a Norman association operating globally to the Duty of Remembrance » he explains, pleased with welcoming the fifteen or so future American soldiers.
The meeting took place at the hotel Le Bayeux in all simplicity yet with a tangible emotion. The students had the opportunity to exchange with people who lived through this period in History. People of Normandy who lived the Allied Landing a bit less than 73 years ago.
Significance of Remembrance
For these military students coming from across the Atlantic, the Battle of Normandy study started « several months ago already » reveals Major Eric Smith who accompany them. « Each student works on a section of the battle », that way all together, « they discover the whole battle. We come on every spring, with different students, it’s important to come see on site and discover, understand as well. »
Besides, the group did not come alone on the footsteps of the Normandy sympol of Liberty. They were accompanied by the association Normandy Remembers, represented by Glennie Sims, evidently very moved by the importance given to remembrance in our daily lives. « Here, people remember and this touches me, this is important, very important to us », she adds, not without emotion.
