BlogThree23

This past June, my wife and I had the great honor to travel to Normandy with a veteran of the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment and members of his family including his grandson, niece, and nephew.  My purpose on the trip was to essentially support the Col. and his family (and do whatever he told me!) but also to to help facilitate a showing of the film I produced and directed entitled, Papa said, “We should never forget”. The film plays daily at the Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, Georgia and tells the story of a young twelve year-old girl and her small French village’s experience during the D-Day invasion. To be able to show the film in the village where the real events took place, with veterans and French citizens who participated in not only the filming but in the actual D-Day event itself was an emotionally charged screening for sure, one that I will forever cherish.

I am amazed at the impressions and feelings of traveling to Normandy with a D-Day veteran and his family. In Normandy, D-Day veterans are treated as living heroes and it thrills your heart to see these men appreciated so. On one stop in particular, we were able to visit in the home of the twelve-year-old girl (now an older woman), featured in the film. She, along with her older sister and other villagers bravely assisted the 507th D-Day action in the small village of Graignes.

As old photograph albums were shown and stories told in French and English, I was struck by the notion of how deep the connection runs between D-Day veterans and French citizens there at the time of the invasion. They have appreciated each other for 65 years and it is only recently that I’ve had the opportunity to experience this bond of friendship and learned to appreciate what this generation did for me and my generation.

While there, we also were able to attend the annual commemorative parachute jump at La Fiere Causeway.  It was truly a thrill to see several thousand people gather to witness the jump and honor those who served.  I couldn’t help but think of the irony of standing freely on the very causeway that so many Airborne men fought and died to liberate in the days following the D-Day invasion.  I wondered if the folks in the crowd even knew of the connection of one of the parachute groups of men jumping that day (members of 1st Battalion, 507th Fort Benning, GA) to the men of the original 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment who landed at La Fiere 65 years ago. I think from the looks and excitement on the faces in the crowd, many of them did.

For me as a filmmaker, to pay even a small token of appreciation back to those French citizens and American soldiers who have made my life possible today is something I will always remember and treasure.  If you are ever in the Warner Robins, Georgia area please stop by the Museum of Aviation and see the exhibit, “Down to Earth”, I’m sure you will enjoy it.

[ Click here ] To see a gallery of images from the Normandy trip.