For D-Day Landings, a Last Hurrah

OMAHA BEACH, France -- Aging veterans of the Normandy invasion returned by the thousands Monday to the windswept, mist-covered coast they stormed 50 years ago on D-day, reliving the epic battle and remembering fallen comrades. On a chill, damp day much like June 6, 1944, presidents and monarchs joined them at crucial invasion sites seared into the memories of those who returned, many probably for the last time. "I had to come," said Al Frank, 85, of Florida, a corporal in the 191st Engineers Special Brigade that landed in the first wave at Utah Beach. "Several of my buddies are gone, this is the last time for me and this is for them." President Bill Clinton, Queen Elizabeth II and other leaders paid tribute to the veterans and the war dead at ceremonies along a 100-kilometer strip of coast, culminating in a multinational commemoration at Omaha Beach, site of D-day's bloodiest combat. President Fran?ois Mitterrand of France consoled Russia and Germany for their exclusion from the celebrations saying that the only enemy was Nazi ideology, and praising "the heroism of the Russian people who pinned down 150 German divisions before eventually vanquishing them."In Moscow, President Boris Yeltsin said that the failure of the former World War II Allies to invite Russia to the commemoration did not spoil the new partnership between Moscow and the West. "When we were celebrating the 50th anniversaries of the battles around Moscow and Stalingrad, we did not invite any of our allies either," Yeltsin said. "But this does not stop us from being partners in all spheres, from trusting each other, respecting each other and resolving international problems together." His remarks contrasted with the offended tone of the Russian media and World War II veterans, who have complained that Moscow's exclusion from the ceremonies was a throwback to the Cold War." At Colleville, the site of the U.S. cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach where 9,386 American soldiers are buried, Clinton movingly recalled the turning point of the battle for the beach, when GIs inched forward past dead buddies and officers to seize the initiative despite withering German fire. "At that exact moment, on these beaches, the forces of freedom turned the tide of the 20th century," Clinton said. Squads of soldiers from the Allied nations opened the Omaha ceremony by marching across the beach, led by a file of flag bearers. Warships, including the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, floated off shore. "The Europe which we know today could not exist had not the tide of war been turned here in Normandy 50 years ago," Queen Elizabeth II said. Earlier, at Utah Beach, Clinton and Mitterrand placed wreaths at a monument to dead U.S. soldiers before a bugler played "Taps." Mitterrand also joined Queen Elizabeth for commemorations at Bayeux, near the beaches where British and Canadian troops came ashore. He and the queen, in a beige cape to ward off the rain, visited a British cemetery with 3,934 graves and a memorial to 1,807 Commonwealth soldiers whose bodies were never recovered. "Many of my mates are buried here," said Dai Davies, 69, of Wales, a lance corporal with the Second Battalion, South Wales Borderers, which landed in the first hours of D-day. "It's very emotional for me. An estimated 100,000 people attended the ceremonies to mark a half century since 156,000 Allied troops, who crossed the English Channel aboard thousands of ships, planes and gliders, breached Hitler's Atlantic Wall. The assault, which left 10,000 Allied soldiers dead or wounded, gained a foothold that allowed millions of troops to pour into France and defeat Nazi Germany 11 months later. The eve of Monday's commemoration was marked by upbeat victory-style celebrations, including a daring parachute jump Sunday by 41 elderly U.S. veterans at Sainte-Mere-Eglise. Parachute failure sent one veteran crashing to earth. Earl Draper of Florida narrowly escaped serious injury when he was forced to use his emergency chute, which is harder to control and makes for a rougher landing. The D-day invasion, the greatest amphibious operation in history, included 1,212 Allied warships and nearly 6,000 other vessels.