D-Day: 80th anniversary in pictures

Thursday, June 6, 2024, marks the 80^th anniversary of the Normandy landings. The program for the day includes ceremonies on most of the five landing beaches: Utah, Omaha, Juno, Gold and Sword. The main international commemoration is taking place at 3pm on Omaha beach.

Mindful of the war in Europe raging 80 years later following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, US President Joe Biden, Britain’s King Charles III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron, paid tribute to the tens of thousands of Allied troops who landed on the sandy beaches of Normandy in northern France on June 6, 1944.

Biden flew into France with his wife Jill Biden on Wednesday evening, before flying to Normandy on Thursday morning. He met with veterans before a US ceremony at the American cemetery.

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Biden said D-Day showed the need for international alliances, in a pointed swipe at his election rival ex-president Donald Trump who has publicly questioned the importance of organizations such as NATO. « We’re living in a time when democracy is more at risk across the world than at any point since the end of World War II, » Biden said. « Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today, » he added. « Real alliances make us stronger – a lesson that I pray we Americans never forget. »

Biden also vowed that, under his leadership, the United States « will not walk away » from Ukraine « because if we do Ukraine will be subjugated and it will not end there. » « Ukraine’s neighbours will be threatened, all of Europe will be threatened, » he added, describing President Vladimir Putin as a « tyrant bent on domination. »

UK and Canada ceremonies

A ceremony hosted by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak alongside King Charles III and Macron took place earlier on Thursday at the British Memorial at Ver-sur-Mer, overlooking Juno and Gold beaches, where many of the British troops landed.

The French president delivered his speech in English and presented French medals of honor to British veterans who had contributed to the war effort.

Also on Thursday morning, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hosted a French-Canadian ceremony alongside his counterpart Gabriel Attal and Britain’s Prince William on Juno Beach, where many Canadian troops had landed.

Hundreds of veterans

The biggest guests of honor were some 180 surviving veterans in their late 90s or even over 100, some in wheelchairs and huddled in blankets as they gazed over the shores. Biden individually met 41 US veterans of the Normandy campaign, of whom 33 were present on D-Day itself. Macron awarded some of them with France’s highest honour, the Legion d’Honneur, with many struggling up from their wheelchairs to receive the medal. King Charles III at Ver-sur-Mer said: « Our gratitude is unfailing and our admiration eternal. »

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Ceremonies were also sprinkled with stardust with film director Steven Spielberg and actor Tom Hanks present in acknowledgment of their classic 1998 film « Saving Private Ryan » about D-Day. For the British ceremony, veteran crooner Tom Jones and popular folk singer and actor Johnny Flynn provided music.

Commemorations started earlier in the week, with a joint US and French amphibious landing operation showcase notably taking place on Tuesday.