(C) U.S. State Dept This story was originally published by U.S. State Dept and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Veterans fly to France for 80th D-Day anniversary [1] ['Lauren Monsen'] Date: 2024-06-04 20:16:35+00:00 Les Schrenk, of Long Prairie, Minnesota, was shot down over Denmark during World War II and taken prisoner. He was a captive on June 6, 1944, when 156,000 Allied service members landed on the beaches of Normandy, France. The D-Day invasion was a major turning point in the war, and the start of operations that would liberate Western Europe and defeat Nazi Germany, freeing numerous prisoners like Schrenk along the way. Most of the Allied troops who landed on the beaches were from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, but troops from 10 other countries also participated in D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. Their fight helped forge a trans-Atlantic bond that continues to ensure the freedom and security of millions. Now 100 years old, Schrenk, a former U.S. Army Air Corps gunner, is one of dozens of U.S. World War II veterans who are returning to Europe to commemorate D-Day’s 80th anniversary. The veterans range in age from their late 90s to over 100. They include 101-year-old Jake Larson, who charged onto a Normandy beach under heavy machine gunfire and survived. Frank Perry, 98, of Advance, North Carolina, told American Airlines he is honored to travel with 69 other World War II veterans from Dallas to Paris on a flight chartered by the airline. “I’m really looking forward to walking on that hallowed ground,” said Perry, who served as a U.S. Army Air Corps aerial gunner in central Europe in 1945. “It’s such a special place, when you consider what they faced.” American and Delta Airlines flew dozens of veterans to France. Groups including the California-based Best Defense Foundation and the Wisconsin-based nonprofit Old Glory Honor Flight also supported veterans returning to Europe. France’s first lady Brigitte Macron welcomed veterans arriving in Paris June 3, Reuters reports. Arrival of the #DDay veterans who will be taking part in the 80th anniversary commemorations in #Normandie. Incredibly moving. The commemorations will be followed by a #StateVisit from @POTUS. 🇺🇸🇫🇷#LestWeForget https://t.co/SBEVvhzIS0 — Aurélie Bonal (@AurelieBonal) June 2, 2024 A week of celebration and commemorative events began Sunday with parachutists dropping over Normandy from World War II-era planes. President Biden will attend ceremonies and deliver remarks. The returning veterans will visit historic sites, including the Normandy American Cemetery, where more than 9,000 U.S. service members are buried. Harold Terens first traveled to Normandy as a 20-year-old U.S. Army Air Corps corporal 12 days after D-Day as part of a mission to deliver captured Germans and recently released American prisoners of war to England. The D-Day invasion had claimed the lives of half his company’s pilots. “I loved all those guys,” he told the Associated Press. “Young men. The average age was 26.” Now 100, Terens, of Boca Raton, Florida, has returned to Normandy several times to honor friends he lost on D-Day. But this year’s trip includes something else. He’s traveling with his 96-year-old fiancée, Jeanne Swerlin. Terens says “she got hysterical” with delight when he proposed a few months ago. And when he kneeled to give her a ring, Swerlin remembers thinking, “I thought I’d have to help him up, but he’s so macho.” The couple, who are both widowed, will marry June 8 at a chapel near Normandy’s beaches with their families in attendance. As for Schrenk, he returned to Europe in 2012 to meet the German pilot who shot down his plane — and also let him live. When Schrenk asked why the pilot did not continue firing on his damaged plane, the man responded: “Yes, I could have shot you, but why should I?” He was tired of so much killing. “If it would’ve been anyone else, I wouldn’t be here today,” Schrenk told CBS News. “I’m glad I lived to talk about it.” [END] --- [1] Url: https://share.america.gov/veterans-fly-to-france-for-80th-d-day-anniversary/ Published and (C) by U.S. State Dept Content appears here under this condition or license: Public Domain. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/usstate/