** Pajamas Media has the official response from the US Embassy on this unbelievable development in France.
Here's a closer look:
Volunteers form a human chain to honor fallen U.S. troops in World War Two and form the words "France Will Never Forget" as a symbol of the friendship between France and the U.S. in Omaha Beach, near the U.S. Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, western France, June 30, 2007. (REUTERS/Etienne de Malglaive/Pool)
Pigs must be flying somewhere.
Volunteers hold a U.S. flag as they form a human chain to honor fallen U.S. troops in World War Two and form the words "France Will Never Forget" as a symbol of the friendship between France and the U.S. in Omaha Beach, near the U.S. Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, western France, June 30, 2007. (REUTERS/Benoit Tessier)
Volunteers form a human chain to honor fallen U.S. troops in World War Two and form the words "France Will Never Forget" as a symbol of the friendship between France and the U.S. in Omaha Beach. (Reuters)
UPDATE: Kate has the video from this event--- You must see it!
Not so amazing, actually. My guess would be that these are residents of the Normandy coastlands. Any American visitor to Normandy will find a warm and grateful people, appreciative to this day for the Allies who liberated them.
ReplyDeleteMore than just the coast I think. Our daughters (or a subset of them, I forget) traveled all over France and they said that outside of parts of some of the bigger cites they were well treated and greeted as if returning family and were often shown the graves of Americans and often heard expressions of gratitude and respect for the American troops.
ReplyDeleteLike a lot of places in the world, the %#@()*%$##$@ that have access to "the media" do not in fact represent the people of France.
Oh, and the Pajamas Media link seems to be broken in fire fox.
ReplyDeleteHere is the link that leads from the Pajamas Media (http://pajamasmedia.com/ ) page to more about the situation: http://www.ambafrance-us.org/news/statmnts/2007/omaha-beach_2007.asp
Thanks, Larry.
ReplyDeleteLink is fixed.
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ReplyDeletewoah, that's great!! (thumbsup)
what a pleasant surprise, THANK YOU FRANCE!! :)
==
VIVA LA France! Cool!
ReplyDeleteOne further thought--I don't know how it stands up under scrutiny.
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1939. If I have done the arithmetic correctly, my parents were the peers of the Americans that fought (and died) in France. Presumably most of the French people who were there then are like my parents, dead and buried. so it is their children and grandchildren that treated my children so well and continued the gratitude for the Americans who fought and died there.
And it occurs to me that the people in the picture look as if they could be be grand children or great-grandchildren.
Rather than ask "Goodness... What's Happened to France?" maybe we should ask "What's about to happen in Iraq?"
The French remind me of Americans in one very narrow respect: Generally good people who elect absolute scum for leaders.
ReplyDeleteLarry has it right on. One, those in the cities, namely the liberals/socialists, those who were raised to question the American involvement from birth, are the ones most likely to elect scum for leaders and be anti-American, and more likely to be reported by an anti-American press in France to an anti-American press in America. Two, these are the later generations, and this is how they still feel, and THIS is an example of why we should be in Iraq, and how we should be concerned not how today's Iraqi's feel, necessarily, but how later generations feel about being raised free from fear of being killed by a dictator.
ReplyDeletehmmm.... that's not the same France I read about in the MSM is it? nah, didn't think so.
ReplyDeleteNice to see signs of life from time to time. is this the result of Nicolas Sarkozy coxing the french to think again?
hmmm.... that's not the same France Bill O'Reilly boycotted and the rightwing smear machine tried to tell us was our enemy is it? The one that was going to fall to Islamofacists any day now? Nah, didn't think so.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's the France that helped the USA win it's independence from King George, ya know the one who's fleet defeated the British fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake that enabled Washington to beat Cornwallis at Yorktown.
You can go back to calling sliced fried potatoes french fries again wingnuts.
French bashing from the start has been nothing but ignorance from most that couldn't even find Europe on a map.
ReplyDeleteAmericans have always - since 1945 - been very warmly welcomed in Normandy - especially soldiers. Canadians and Brits - and others - as well.
Its a credit to those involved that they can ignore the destruction and nastiness of recent USA policy and still greet older Americans as WW2 heroes.
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ReplyDeleteOT..
The 9/11 Generation
"we shall never forget"
==
> Pigs must be flying somewhere.
ReplyDeleteMore critically, Nitrocellulose Dogs are actually CATCHING Asbestos Cats in Hell!!
> Its a credit to those involved that they can ignore the destruction and nastiness of recent USA policy and still greet older Americans as WW2 heroes.
ReplyDeleteYes, by all means. BLAME FRANCE BASHING. Can't possibly be that the French should take responsibility for the irresponsibity of their media and government.
NAWWWWWw....
Yeesh. Y'know, it HURTS when people make my eyes roll that far back in my head.
ya know the one who's fleet defeated the British fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake that enabled Washington to beat Cornwallis at Yorktown.
ReplyDeleteThat was then, this is now. As the saying goes - what have you done for me lately?
markg8 said "hmmm.... that's not the same France Bill O'Reilly boycotted and the rightwing smear machine tried to tell us was our enemy is it? The one that was going to fall to Islamofacists any day now? Nah, didn't think so."
ReplyDeleteWhat about the France that made "The Horrifying Fraud" a best-seller? That's the book about 9/11 that said the buildings were destroyed by missiles launched by the US military.
Such demonstrations are appreciated. But the Islamofascists are still there.
Don't kid yourselves. Expect the saturation advertising - the Paris street scenes, the clinking of glasses, the 'pop' of corks - as the coordinating multimedia saturation advertisement of French fine wines will now start to steamroll.
ReplyDeleteAlways follow the money - NEVER do such mass demonstrations happen without a $$ boost at some level, be it the KGB in days of yore, CAIR today, DuPont in the case of the hole in the Ozone, GE in the case of Florescent light bulbs to save the planet, etc. etc. I mean, Do'h
Normandy is absolutely wonderful, especially in the cold Winter when Calvados warms you up. And the people there are fantastic. I fly through Paris and then head North or South to Provence.
ReplyDeleteIan said...
ReplyDeleteThe French remind me of Americans in one very narrow respect: Generally good people who elect absolute scum for leaders.
I'm about convinced about all that presents itself for election is absolute scum. Who in their right mind would want that job in what has become a corruption and graft ridden sewer? Just sell out to the highest bidder.
yep, totally disgusted with what I find in politics anymore.
Maybe it's the France that helped the USA win it's independence from King George, ya know the one who's fleet defeated the British fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake that enabled Washington to beat Cornwallis at Yorktown.
ReplyDeleteSo you think King Louis XVI is behind this?
My husband and I went to France in 2005. Without exception we found the French to be very warm and welcoming. And yes we did talk politics. And yes they asked me if I voted for Bush, and I told them the truth (yes, I did).
ReplyDeleteThere response to the Iraq war, "It may not be right...but at least the U.S. does something...in France we just talk."
I remember reading (in the NY Times no less!) a feature story on the 50th anniversary of D-Day. It was about a group of American Airborne troops who pRchuted into Normandy, and were going to re-enact it 50 years later. The US gov't originally sanctioned the drop, and were going to provide some support, such as flying these old guys across the Atlantic, then providing a plane for them to jump from. Gov't backed out because of safety concerns for 70 yr-old paratroopers, and the support was picked up by private entities. The Army had a drop demo by their Golden Knights jump team. To take nothing away from the young guys, the vets were a much bigger draw. The kids wanted to know, "Where are the Old Guys?" and flocked to their drop zone by the thousands (something like twenty thousand). One of the 70+ y.o veterans received more than a dozen marriage proposals. The liberators of Normandy were treated like rock stars.
ReplyDeleteAs has been mentioned, it's different on the coast. A fine old gentleman I know "toured" France as an infantry Lieutenant.
ReplyDeleteAway from Normandy, newly liberated French people were throwing rocks at his men.
Why? They were communists! They had fought (more credibly than most resistance) to drive out the Germans and take France for themselves. Many communists did end up in the post war governament but, not as the controlling power they longed to be.
I went to France in 1985 with my Dad and with members of his tank battalion that liberated the French in Alsace, along the Franco-German border. The people there were very warm and receptive to these old warriors, most in their '60's. Then we went to Paris and we were treated like shit, condescending and disdainful. I never understood the difference in the reaction, and don't to this day. But I'll never forget it, snd I'll never return to France.
ReplyDeletecompare the work of our Norman friends to this vomit-inducing crapulence:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zombietime.com/beach_impeach/
its pix and vid of the San Fran "impeach Bush now" human beach sign last year.
ya know the one who's fleet defeated the British fleet in the Battle of the Chesapeake that enabled Washington to beat Cornwallis at Yorktown.
ReplyDeleteya know the one who's soldiers, Irregulars, and Indian allies massacred English (pre-American) settlers not 20 years before Yorktown, and the one with whom we fought our first war as a newly-independent nation?
ya know, Geo. Washington's first command was of the survivors of Braddock's March? ya do know about Braddock's March?
Looks like the public schools have stopped teaching pre-Independence and post-colonial history.
I have visited France twice. A friend of mine also vistited. My experiences, and that of my friend match that of Anonymous 6:56.
ReplyDeleteIf politics did come up, the French I talked too were far more understanding of the US position than the press would have you believe.
People like to dis Washington for blundering into the French and Indian war, but at the time, he was a British subject, and at the end of the war he started, for whatever reason, Britain ended up with a huge colonial empire, maybe a little too huge, but his adventures or misadventures definitely served the British Crown well.
ReplyDeleteI visited southern France twice with the Navy in the early 80's, and got to know a family pretty well there. (went back to vist them on my own later.) They were very kind towards me from the start (I was on duty giving tours of our ship when I met them), but when they found that one of my uncles is buried in the cemetery in Normandy, they couldn't do enough for me. It was very touching.
ReplyDeleteThe right these days reminds me of an aging bitchy woman who runs around looking for signs of praise and interpret any criticism as a mortal insult. The people who are so proud to be Americans and are so vain that they have to shriek in anger at any perceived "anti-americanism" are the ones who are most likely to behave in a boorish, selfish way that promotes anti-americanism.
ReplyDeleteGuess what, the French treat us no worse than the ignorant trash on the right treat the French. They aren't are enemies and never were.
"Guess what, the French treat us no worse than the ignorant trash on the right treat the French. They aren't are enemies and never were."
ReplyDeleteMaybe Jakester and the wise men and women of his ilk need to read No Pasarán more often...
Reassurance From French Minister That Nothing But His Country's Principles Were at Work
http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2005/06/reassurance-from-french-minister-that.html
Training a Generation of Anti-Americans: France's School Books Paint America as a Predatory and Savage Hyper-Power
http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2005/12/training-generation-of-anti-americans.html
Yankee-Bashing: "The brutal imagery by French schoolkids echo what they hear from their parents and teachers and see in the media" http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2005/08/yankee-bashing.html
"Because of Our Past, We Germans Must Refrain From Giving Lessons" (to the Russians, the Chinese, etc)
http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2006/11/because-of-our-past-we-germans-must.html
Why We Blog — It Is Not Fundamentalism, It Is Not Blind Allegiance to the White House; It Is Common Sense
http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2005/11/why-we-blog-it-is-not-fundamentalism.html
And finally, on the subject of World War II and D-Day:
D-Day Softens Few Anti-U.S. hearts
http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2004/06/d-day-softens-few-anti-us-hearts.html
Springtime for Germany; Winter for the US
http://lastofthefamous.blogspot.com/2004/06/springtime-for-germany-winter-for-us.html
"The Battle of Normandy, Invasion or Liberation?" It's Just a Debate!
http://no-pasaran.blogspot.com/2004/06/its-just-debate.html
Read also Le Monde's coverage of the U.S., past and present, including the final part of Letters to the Editor of Le Monde devoted to the anniversary of D-Day...
http://lemondewatch.blogspot.com/2005_03_20_lemondewatch_archive.html#111142372818952545
Too late Normandy, I've discovered Australian wine. BTW, Thanks for figuring it all out for me Jakester.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle landed at Utah beach and made many visits back to Europe - including tracing their route all the way across the Rhine to Buchenwald. He was always enthusiastically welcomed by the rural population. Cities and educated elites - more like disdained indifference. BTW, my uncle was of German dissent and spoke German with a perfect Hamburg accent.
ReplyDeleteMy French friend, who was 7 when the GIs liberated her village, says France is like the US - rural versus urban. And like someone pointed out above, the Communists / Socialists saw the end of the war as a chance to gain control of France.
While Lafayette may have been in agreement with the US founding fathers, France the nation supported the revolution to stick a thumb in England's eye.
Like most people who’ve seen this story, I was shocked and amazed that even a small number of french people would make a “nice” gesture towards the U.S. The french (in general) appear to be quite proud of their anti-Americanism, so forgive me if I view this story with some skepticism. My first thought was, “I wonder what it is that they are promising to remember?” Are they promising to remember what they were taught by their America hating teachers in french schools, or are they promising to remember what really happened on D-day? All that aside, I appreciate even the smallest token gesture of goodwill from the french, but a token gesture is hardly enough to make me change my low opinion of france as a nation. Perhaps it’s good that they are promising to remember something about the sacrifices that U.S. soldiers made for their country, because it will probably never happen again. The Germans can take and keep france now, if they want to. I certainly won’t lift a finger to stop them. Not for the french.
ReplyDeleteAll these comments are very interesting. I have nothing against americans, and most french people think the same. We are just all manipulated by the medias. The people do not decide to dislike or not another country just for the sake of it. We are fed with this bullshit. Just like american people were fed of that same kind of crap few years back ( and perhaps still today ) about things to dislike or hate France for.
ReplyDeleteConcerning D-Day, i ahve always asked myself why General DeGaulle Hated so mcuh AMERICA. I believe according to some of my old History teachers, that he himself didn't want any US intervention. Of course if the US had not moved on Europe, we'd all be speaking German here in France. Anyway, my question is, why did he hated america so much, what was he afraid about the fact the US army came to "save" Europe, was is a threat in his mind?? did he already knew the United STates of America would rule the world After this historical Episode? This is what he left as a Legacy...
Constantelevitation made a couple of good points: the french have been systemically taught to hate Americans, and De Gaulle allowed (encouraged?) anti-Americanism to become an institutional pillar of modern french culture and politics. Now, anti-Americanism has become so deeply rooted in the french psyche that the senselessness of it is no longer questioned. I believe that the primary reason for france’s pathological hatred of the U.S. is not due to anything specifically that the U.S. has done wrong or because Americans are bad people. I don’t even believe that it’s Americans that they hate. Rather I believe that they hate themselves for allowing their once powerful nation to become weak and pathetic, but they have not yet reached the point where they can take responsibility for their own demise. Instead, they focus their self-loathing outwards, towards the United States. De Gaulle’s resentment of the U.S. was certainly a reflection of his need to blame someone else for france’s political and military impotence, and the example that he set continues in france today – displayed most particularly in the political maneuverings of Jack Chirac. I have little respect for modern france, but it is certainly capable of becoming a great nation again if the french people wish it to be so, and as much as I dislike the french, even I can see that the folks responsible for inventing lingerie can’t be all bad. On the other hand, the whole mime thing remains troubling.
ReplyDeletegreetings from Normandy !
ReplyDeletewe will never forget
Eric from France. I'm absolutely stupefied -and horrified- by these comments. I'm 33 now and I've NEVER been taught by anyone to hate anybody, especially American people. We love your country !!
ReplyDeleteMy parents brought me with them to visit the USA when I was 14, and I was really excited about this travel. They don't speak a single english word, so if they really disliked USA, I don't think they would have been willing to visit your country with their young children... I met lots of friendly and warm people at this time. Right now I've still got several American friends on the web, and we spend a lot of good time chatting about all and nothing, cracking sick jokes just for the heck of it. And as much as I appreciate French culture, I'm a hardcore action figures and US comics collector. See ?
I'm positive I'll go back to the USA one day, there are so many places left to see, and so many people to meet...
Honestly, I don't understand your gripes toward my country. I've got the feeling that some of you try to convince themselves and others that France is anti-americanist, which is totally rubbish !!! Come and visit my country, you will see that everyday's reality is entirely different compared to what the medias try to make you believe. Of course, you will always be able to find unpolite jerks everywhere. But I wouldn't like to be treated like shit by an anti-French dork in the USA as well. Morons can be found everywhere in the world, this is a universal race...
My door's open to every American who wants to discover our way of life. We see you as friends and allies, and we know what we owe you.
It's true that the president Bush is not much appreciated in France, but does he really get this much love in America ? And that doesn't mean that we don't like American people. Politics have nothing to do with friendships between individuals.
I deeply respect your country, your culture and your points of view. I just wanted to write these several words to let all the American readers know that they will be warmly welcomed in France, no matter what they hear, no matter what you think.
Peace y'all,
Eric