France Commemorates 'The Other D-Day'

[Rose Siding]

DRAGUIGNAN, France -- France opened a weekend tribute Saturday to the American, French and African soldiers who helped liberate its land from Nazi Germany's grip in one of the least-remembered military operations of World War II: the Allied invasion of the Riviera.

On the eve of a ceremony involving heads of state from 15 nations and representatives from six other countries -- mainly former African colonies -- France thanked British and American veterans of Operation Dragoon for their role in what is called "the other D-Day."
...
Nine British paratroopers and nine American soldiers, among more than 350,000 troops who stormed ashore Aug. 15, 1944, received the Legion of Honor, France's highest award, in separate ceremonies Saturday.

"France knows what it owes to the heroes of America who liberated us 60 years ago," Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said as she pinned the chests of the American vets in a ceremony at the U.S. military cemetery in Draguignan and kissed each of the nine on both cheeks.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-france-the-other-d-day,0,6435608.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[Cerridwen]

1. Damn those Frenchies anyway

Here we live a country who has "freedom fries" because they disagreed with us and wouldn't do our bidding.

And here they are 60 years later saying "thank you" and "We have never forgotten. We will never forget," . . . expressing France's "eternal recognition."

</sarcasm>

Thanks for posting this. What a great thing they did for our veterans.

Maybe they could teach *.

[Zerex71]

12. You/we/the US has to remember...

...that European societies are much older, wiser, and not the adolescent nincompoops that the US is much of the time. So despite us acting like petulant babies when we don't get our way 110% of the time, more mature countries like France have the wisdom of experience to know that the high road is forgiveness of current sins.

[KDLarsen]

14. Reminds me of a scene from JAG

Where Harm is being told off by a female Iranian officer: "Your country is 250 years old, my country is 2500 years old. Who do you think have more experience in how the world works" (or something like that).

[Endangered Specie]

2. And people say the French aren't grateful?

[burrowowl]

3. Around this day

in Levallois-Perret, like Bronx is to NY, there is a parade for the Liberation of Levallois-Perret.
Going to work on the train, as was my job, near Versailles, you can see the American soldiers' graves, with grass and crosses or stars of David, as opposed to stone monuments, in the graveyards around Paris.

[BonjourUSA]

4. Since how long you did not return in levallois ?

[burrowowl]

6. 10 years

I lived there 20. Where do you live?

[BonjourUSA]

7. I was born in Paris and I live in Perpignan now.

I never visited NYC, but your comparison of one of the more expensive Parisian suburbs with Bronx appears to me a little daring

[burrowowl]

11. Levallois

has gone up in price. It used to have a communist mayor.
The 15th got higher priced, you used to find reasonable stuff there.
Levallois is not Clichy, but it ain't Neuilly either, nor the 17th.
Has the Clichy end of Levallois been cleaned up? As in the Bronx, you could find various prices and degrees of housing.

[BonjourUSA]

8. I was born in Paris and I live in Perpignan now.

I never visited NYC, but your comparison of one of the more expensive Parisian suburbs with Bronx appears to me a little daring

[exJW]

10. Small world

Just 3 weeks ago, I visited France for the first time (actually my first ever trip to Europe). I stayed at the apartment of a friend (and now girlfriend) I met on the net, at her place at the edge of Paris, in Levallois-Perret.

In fact, her place is just two blocks off of President Wilson blvd., to stay on topic.

[Minstrel Boy]

5. Operation Dragoon, one of many overlooked campaigns of WWII.

And it involved far more than twice the number of Allied troops as "coalition" forces in the invasion of Iraq. And how many remember Dragoon today?

The scope of the Second World War will never be seen again. I wish many people knew more than the sketchiest of outlines.

Thanks for posting this.

[lynx rufus]

9. At least I know now

I recall The Bismark, Battle of The Buldge,
D Day, Battle of Achen, Rommel and his Afrika Corps,
Patton, Pocket Battleships, HMS Hood and things like that.
I don't recall a thing about Operation Dragoon.
Good to know.

[KDLarsen]

13. For some reason I missed the naval parade

.. even though I've been lying on the beach at Port Grimaud, between St Maxime & St-Tropez, all day. They must have been further out or passed while I was having lunch :/

I might save todays edition of Var-Matin which has a lot of pictures from yesterdays ceremony at the US Military Cemetary Rhône, which I visited the other day, and scan them in when I return next weekend. Very touching place, especially the text on the memorial: "We died that others may live in peace". Dubya could learn from that.

I was very surprised to see that no US officials are attending (from what I've been able to make out from Var-Matin) - it was after all a significant operation in the WW2.

Anyway, greetings from le Cote d'Azur, looking forward to the fireworks tonight.

[Cocoa]

15. Dick Cheney declined his invitation to be there with Chirac

Tony Blair too.

A piece of info that seems to appear in overseas stories, but which the U.S. media seems to leave out.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/100972/1/.html

<snip>

President Jacques Chirac and the heads of state of 15 former French colonial possessions in Africa which contributed troops to the historic assault on August 15, 1944 were to watch as a joint fleet of French, Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian and US vessels steamed along France's Mediterranean coast.

But representation from the United States and Britain was to be comparatively low-key, despite those countries having played the leading roles in the invasion, codenamed "Operation Dragoon" and staged 10 weeks after the much bigger D-Day landings in Normandy.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair -- who attended the D-Day anniversary gathering on June 6 alongside US President George W. Bush -- and US Vice-President Dick Cheney have turned down their invitations, sending lower-ranking officials instead.

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