World War II veterans and other visitors gather Monday in Normandy for the 78th D-Day anniversary to pay tribute to the nearly 160,000 troops from Britain, the US, Canada and elsewhere who landed there. Several thousand people are expected Monday at a ceremony at the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach in the French town of Colleville-sur-Mer.
This year’s D-Day anniversary comes after two successive years of the Covid-19 pandemic restricted or deterred visitors. The celebrations paying tribute to those who brought peace and freedom to the continent have a special resonance this year as war rages once again in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
