As the first French town to be liberated during June 1944’s Operation Overlord, the village of Saint-Mère Eglise is a central place of World War II remembrance in Normandy. - Dawn Dailey 
"The sky was dark and clouds provided cover for what was soon to descend upon this French town on the Norman coast.
- Occupied by Nazi Germany for four years, Sainte-Mère-Église would be the first town liberated by the Americans as part of Operation Overlord.
Thanks to a strategic location at a confluence of country roads, the liberation of Sainte-Mère-Église would prove to be pivotal in the success of the D-Day Invasion...
Soon after D-Day, out of her immeasurable gratitude for liberating her town and ultimately her country, Simone Renaud, the wife of Sainte-Mère-Église’s mayor, began placing flowers on the graves of American soldiers. For the next forty-four years, Madame Renaud corresponded with the families of fallen US soldiers as well as veterans and tended the graves on their behalf. Today, an organization called Les Fleurs de la Mémoire continues this tradition by enlisting local families to “adopt” a grave and adorn it with flowers. It is a way for the French to help American families who cannot come themselves to their loved ones’ graves. It is also a beautiful way for the French to honor their American liberators...On this 80th anniversary year of the D-Day invasion and of the liberation of Normandy that began with Sainte-Mère–Église, may we not take freedom and democracy for granted.
May we remember the fallen.
May we not forget this horrific history and may it never again be repeated...
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