My Cooter's History Blog has become about 80% World War II anyway, so I figured to start a blog specific to it, especially since we're commemorating its 70th anniversary and we are quickly losing this "Greatest Generation." The quote is taken from Pearl Harbor survivor Frank Curre, who was on the USS Tennessee that day. He died Dec. 7, 2011, seventy years to the day. His photo is below at right.
Saturday, August 31, 2019
One By One, D-Day Memories Fade-- Part 3: How Many Are Still Alive?
Normandy school teachers, veterans' families and military memorials are racing against time to record survivors' stories for posterity.
It was history's biggest amphibious invasion, on that fateful June 6, 1944, day, some 160,000 Allied forces came ashore to launch Operation Overlord to wrest Normandy from German control. More than 4,000 Allied forces were killed that day alone. Nearly a half a million people were killed on both sides by the time the Allies liberated Paris in August 1944.
It is unclear how many D-Day veterans are alive today. The survivors are now in their 90s or 100s.
Of the 73,000 Americans who took part, just thirty are currently scheduled to come to France for this year's 75th anniversary.
--GreGen
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