Sen. Kerry visits Normandy for D-Day anniversary

[Mass]

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2011/06/06/sen_kerry_visits_normandy_for_d_day_anniversary/

RICQUEVILLE-EN-BESSIN, France—World War II veterans and Sen. John Kerry are commemorating the D-Day landings in Normandy at an iconic and eroding cliff.


The visit is one of several events along the coast Monday marking 67 years since Allied forces landed on a swath of beaches in Nazi-occupied France. The June, 6, 1944, invasion and ensuing battle for Normandy helped change the course of the war.

Kerry and the veterans are visiting Pointe du Hoc, where elite U.S. Rangers scaled jagged cliffs in one of the most trying missions of the invasion.

The limestone and clay cliffs have eroded by 10 meters (33 feet) since D-Day. Pointe du Hoc reopened to the public in March after extensive restoration efforts, organized by the American Battle Monuments Commission. Some half a million people visit the site each year.

[karynnj]

1. Boston Herald coverage

U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry will honor D-Day veterans at a ceremony in Pointe du Hoc in Normandy today, one of several dignitaries invited to mark the 67th anniversary of the grueling World War II invasion that many elderly surviving veterans are now unable to attend.

The risky operation launched on June 6, 1944, saw thousands of Allied troops dropping from the air, landing on beaches, and climbing cliffs to silence German guns. It marked the opening of a western front against Germany and the beginning of the end for Nazi control of Europe.

Kerry was invited to France for the rededication of the Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument, which reopened to the public in March for the first time since 2001. It was restored through a $4.8 million grant to the American Battle Monuments Commission.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_0606headlinegoes_2/

(Surprisingly, no one is attacking JK in the comments. )

Isn't this really close to where his grandparents had an estate when he was young?

Not Kerry related, but a good oped explaining the place where he and the WWII vets were - http://post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/585621/D-Day-Dedication.html?nav=5192

[Mass]

2. between 100 and 150 miles.

I liked the fact that the Herald bothered writing their own article rather than reproducing an AP article. It does not really say more than the AP article, but they tend to be better than the Globe on stories like that.

[ObamaKerryDem]

3. So great that he could be there to commemorate this day with them!

Even though this was obviously not *his* war, I'd imagine it meant/means a lot to JK to be there, among fellow veterans on this very significant day in history (and, of course, to these veterans personally). (He was a baby then, imagine!:))

Yahoo now has some pics! Very touching, the one with him, hugging that WWII serviceman:

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/John-Kerry-US-Senator-John-Kerry-reacts--Herman-Zerger-36th-Texas/ss/events/pl/021103kerry/im:/110606/481/urn_publicid_ap_org1b769c423994405da12c96e6fdd22de0/

Must've been so incredibly powerful, just being in the spot with all that history!