On sad anniversary, few to mourn the D-Day dead in Normandy
In sharp contrast to the 75th anniversary of D-Day, this year's 76th will be one of the loneliest remembrances ever, as the coronavirus pandemic is keeping nearly everyone from traveling. It poses a particular threat to the elderly like the surviving D-Day veterans who are in their late nineties or older. All across the beaches of Normandy tens of thousands came from across the globe to pay their respects to the dead and laud the surviving soldiers. The acrid smell of wartime-era jeep exhaust fumes and the rumble of old tanks filled the air as parades of vintages vehicles went from village to village. Someday the COVID-19 pandemic, too, will pass, and people will turn out to remember both events that shook the world.