More than 100 kilometers of Normandy's coastline bear traces of June 6, 1944, including bunkers, shipwrecked vessels, and other vestiges from the Allied troops' first step to freeing western Europe from Nazi German occupation.But now, the sea from which 150,000 Allied troops conducted the largest seaborne invasion in history threatens those same heritage sites.
Charles de Vallavieille, the mayor of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and director of the Utah Beach Museum, disagreed.' difficulties. We must not deny them,' he said.Standing in front of the museum founded by his father in 1962, de Vallavieille recalled watching former soldiers return to Normandy.'I've seen veterans waving to the sea, crying... It's the emotion of the beach,' de Vallavieille said.