US World War II veterans have begun their journey to France to be celebrated at D-Day anniversary events in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the largest amphibious invasion in history.
On Sunday, the group of 60 veterans – donning customised jackets commemorating the anniversary – arrived at Atlanta airport to the clapping and cheering from the flight crew and a high school marching band.
The veterans were then guided through the airport to their terminal in a parade headed by the marching band.
Hilbert Margol says he didn't look on himself as a hero when his US Army artillery unit fought its way across Europe during World War II.
But he will be celebrated in France as one of 60 American veterans of the conflict traveling to Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings on 6 June.
“I know my brother and I never looked at it as we were any kind of heroes, nothing like that,” Margol said recently of himself and his twin brother Howard, who served with him.
“It was just our time. That we were asked to serve. And we did.”
On Sunday, a group of 60 World War II veterans is leaving Atlanta on a trip to France to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, where they will take part in parades and ceremonies including the official June 6 commemoration of the landings.https://t.co/eg9rvaS94f
— WABE News (@wabenews) June 2, 2024
The last veterans
The 100-year-old Margol – who lives in suburban Atlanta – is among the dwindling band of veterans of the conflict who left the US on Sunday on a chartered flight for Deauville in Normandy.
The veterans will take part in parades, school visits and ceremonies – including the official 6 June commemoration of the landings by soldiers from across the United States, Britain, Canada and other Allied nations on five beaches.
Margol didn't land at D-Day, but the Florida native was among those who liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp on 29 April, 1945.
The trip also includes high school and college students selected to escort the veterans and learn about their experiences.
Charter flights also took veterans from Atlanta to France in 2022 and 2023.
Message of peace
World War II veteran Jake Larson – a 101-year-old American best known on social media under the name “Papa Jake” – said he joined the national guard when he was 15 for the money and landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day.
Reflecting back on the three years he was in Europe, Larson said he is “no hero.”
“I’m just a survivor, but I’m here to honour those people who gave their life so I can be here,” Larson said before boarding the flight on Sunday.
He also had a message to world leaders: "Make peace not war”.
Fight for freedom
Andy Negra of Helen, Georgia came ashore with the 6th Armored Division at Utah Beach on 18 July, 1944, about six weeks after D-Day.
It is his second trip back to France after also taking part in last year's commemorations.
“Well to me, we fought for freedom, and we fought for peace, and we fought for a good life,” Negra, a native of Pennsylvania, said in a recent interview.
The trip is being organised by Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines, the Best Defense Foundation and the North American branch of French tire maker Michelin.
“It is our privilege to celebrate and honour these heroes by flying them directly to Normandy and recognising their incredible sacrifices and contributions to the world,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement.
