THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994 TAG: 9406090741
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY GERMANOTTA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940609 LENGTH: VIRE, NORMANDY
Five decades ago, when boys from Virginia and Maryland first marched through this countryside, they were bone weary, scared and ducking death at every hedgerow.
{REST} Burned in their memory are the places where they had fought and where their friends fell. The names have been mangled by many a Southside accent, but the terrain was as real as yesterday for the men of the 29th Division: Omaha Beach, Grandcamp, St. Lo, Carrefour, Isigny, Colleville, Pointe du Hoc, Vire.
If they chanced upon a French child then, they tossed him a candy bar, K-ration or piece of chewing gum. There was no time to stop, to talk, to learn about the families for whom they were fighting.
When the Blue and Gray division returned last week, most came to revisit the places. Instead, they discovered the people.
In every little hammock, village and town, the French turned out in numbers. They waited hours in the rain for the chance to wave to a line of passing buses.
Wherever the GIs walked, the people pressed upon them with an enthusiasm reserved in the United States for rock stars and athletes.
A bent old man, shuffling with a cane, stuck a hand out to embrace an American who had driven off the Germans. He struggled, in French and gestures, to tell the GI how much it was appreciated. The message got through.
An old woman, her eyes ringed red with tears, grabbed the hand of a passing soldier, desperately pulling him close so she could give him a kiss. She said nothing. Her face spoke eloquently.
Teenagers and young people carried posters and newspapers and begged embarrassed GIs for autographs.
And everywhere, the children. Dressed in their finery, excited, and eager to get close to one of the returning heroes.
In Vire, where American bombers killed more than 400 citizens on D-Day and destroyed most of the town, the schools let out early Tuesday so all the students could line a parade route.
When the veterans climbed up the hill into town, the kids ran among them, grabbing them, and asking them to sign gum wrappers, commemorative paper caps, or other scraps.
It amazed the veterans. How, they wondered, will they ever be able to explain the way the French made them feel?
``You think they'll believe this when we go home?'' asked Tom Romano, of Plainfield, N.J., as he walked in one parade, slapping hands with the kids. ``I think I'll stay here a couple of months.''
One veteran, nearly 82, was limping when he began to march. With every step, he seemed to grow younger as he fed on the energy from the crowd until the limp disappeared.
Over the past week, the veterans have heard countless official speeches, including one by the president. They have received medals and been treated to meals and ferried to monument dedications. They've been interviewed by network stars and congratulated by generals.
But, to a man, they say they were thrilled most by the people of Normandy.
Fifty years ago, the soldiers were too busy to meet them; now, they'll never forget them.
The gratitude they expressed gave meaning to the slaughter these aging warriors had experienced.
And when these men, most grandparents themselves, looked on the happy children of Normandy, they realized how important it was to free Europe.
``Really,'' William ``Buck'' Williamson of Virginia Beach said, ``the best thing on the trip is to reach out and touch the kids.''
{KEYWORDS} D-DAY
by CNB