93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
(AP) President Donald Trump is helping kick off two days of D-Day observances by reading excerpts of a prayer that President Franklin Roosevelt read to the U.S. on June 6, 1944.
Trump is at Portsmouth Naval Base on the southern coast of England, a key launching pad for forces that landed on Normandy during World War II. He flew there Wednesday to pay respects to American service members and allies who helped rescue Europe from Nazi Germany.
British Prime Minister Theresa May read from a letter written by Capt. Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps to his wife, Gladys, on June 3, 1944, a few days before the invasion. He was killed the day after D-Day.
(Earlier story)
The skies are bright and the weather favorable for jumps by close to 200 parachutists over one of the battle sites of the D-Day landings.
Parachutists will be jumping from C-47 transporters in World War II colors and other aircraft, aiming for fields of wild flowers on the outskirts of the town of Carentan. It was one of the early objectives for Allied troops who invaded from the air and sea on June 6, 1944, launching the campaign to free Europe from Nazi occupation.
Among the jumpers Wednesday will be American D-Day veteran Tom Rice, 97. He jumped into Normandy with thousands of other parachutists in 1944, and recalls it as “the worse jump I ever had.”
Rice is jumping in tandem with another parachutist and has been training for six months.
Other parachute jumps are planned involving British veterans at Sannerville. They’re among multiple events marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
