You’ll see 200 American flags and a solitary U.S. Army helmet at Friday morning’s ceremony in Columbia to mark the 81st anniversary of D-Day, which was the Allied invasion on the beaches of Normandy France on June 6, 1944.
D-Day marked the start of the liberation of Europe from Nazi occupation. Today’s ceremony begins at 11 am at the Boone County Courthouse’s memorial plaza, and everyone is invited. U.S. Navy recruits are placing the American flags in the grass: 137 flags are for names on the Memorial wall, 48 are for Missourians killed on D-Day in 1944 and 15 are for United States Coast Guard sailors who died that day.
The U.S. Exercise Tiger Foundation says only 66,000 American World War II veterans are still alive. One of them is 100-year-old Robert Bartlett of Columbia, who was a U-S Navy engineering officer. Mr. Bartlett will be honored this morning. So will 86-year-old U-S Marine James Marsden Sr. and his son, 62-year-old U-S Marine James Marsden Jr.
The solitary U.S. Army helmet will be on display during the ceremony, representing those Missourians who died on D-Day.
