Photo By Staff Sgt. Nathan Baker | Sgt. Alejandro Lucero, a public affairs specialist and content creator with the 128th...... read more read more
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The Army public affairs team arrived in Normandy after an exhausting 10-hour road trip from Germany. Their first destination was Utah Beach to capture photos and video of monuments for an upcoming project. The beach made famous for the D-day invasion in World War II was quiet and empty except for a man on a horse galloping up and down the beach in the golden evening light. But the quiet would not last for long. Normandy was preparing for a new invasion consisting of thousands of international military members, World War II veterans, and tourists who would descend upon the local towns and villages to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
This event is what brought the team to the Normandy area. Ten Utah National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 128th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment have been deployed to Germany since the previous fall supporting Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) and were tasked to provide public affairs coverage for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day celebration May 30 through June 9, 2024.
D-Day anniversary celebrations are held annually in Normandy and consist of a large contingent of American military units whose lineage participated in the invasion during World War II. Among the more famous units represented are the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and the 82nd Airborne Division. There were several other units with ties to the invasion that also participated, including the 75th Ranger Regiment and Naval Special Warfare, which represented U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF).
“We were the lead public affairs element for all U.S. Special Operations Forces units that participated in the D-Day events. Our main mission was to highlight the role legacy U.S. Special Operations Forces played in WWII and more specifically Operation Overlord,” said Capt. Jeff Brenchley, an officer with the 128th MPAD and the lead public affairs planner for the event for SOCEUR.
The 128th MPAD members provided photo and video support to SOF units participating in the celebrations and also provided media escort support for hundreds of civilian journalists who were covering events at the Normandy American Cemetery.
From the first day of events, the 128th MPAD Soldiers felt the significance of the D-Day commemoration and recognized the historical significance and high visibility nature of the mission.
“This was a unique opportunity for the 128th MPAD to take part in the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of D-Day and highlight the strength of our European alliance,” said Maj. Laureen MacGregor, commander of the 128th MPAD. “It was such a privilege to be able to showcase our skills on an international stage while supporting Special Operations Command Europe.”
Over ten days of the D-Day commemoration, the soldiers of the128th attended and worked numerous ceremonies, speeches, showings and multiple airborne operations commemorating the World War II invasion.
“We knew going in that it would be a sprint, that we would work long hours and we wouldn’t get much sleep,” said Brenchley. “We also knew that it would be one of the most satisfying missions of our careers. The team undoubtedly rose to the challenge.”
Brenchley said that the team not only was responsible for covering events for special operations units but they were used as public affairs augmentees for several of the over 150 events and ceremonies that were scheduled for the 10-day period.
Some highlights of their coverage included members of the 128th MPAD, on behalf of SOCEUR, helping to facilitate the showing of “Operation Overlord,” a film created by the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) Society in the Carentan Theater in Carentan, France. For their efforts, SOCEUR was presented a replica of the OSS Congressional Gold Medal from OSS Society President Charles Pinck.
Another event highlighted by 128th MPAD members included a ceremony in Sainte-Marie-Du-Mont that honored the French Resistance and their contributions and sacrifices during the D-Day invasion and the liberation of Normandy. The ceremony included U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Lawrence G. Ferguson, commanding general of 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) as guest speaker. In his speech, he spoke on how honoring history, while keeping a watchful eye on the present and future is the cornerstone for special operations in Europe, and across the world.
Another significant event was the arrival of 48 World War II veterans by airplane to the D-Day celebration at the Deauville, Normandy Airport. A crowd of hundreds of spectators greeted the veterans as they walked down the stairway from the airplane. The crowd consisted of U.S. Military members, military reenactors, school children waving French and American flags, and local and national dignitaries, among them Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuelle Macron. The veterans, ranging in age from 98 to 106 years-old, walked down the stairway as their names and World War II military units were announced to the cheering crowd.
The celebration for the incoming airplane caused Brenchley to get a little sentimental, reminding him of when he came home from his deployment from Iraq several years ago to the sound of cheering family.
“I was fascinated by the huge crowd of spectators that were enthralled by the World War II veterans and the sacrifice they made 80 years ago,” said Brenchley. “It was a powerful and emotional moment for me when the veterans exited the airplane to the applauding crowd.”
On June 6, most of the team was assigned to escort civilian media for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day event at Normandy American Cemetery. The ceremony was attended by U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuelle Macron. During the event, Macron awarded several of the attending World War II veterans with the Legion of Honor, the highest award bestowed by France. Following their speeches, both presidents mingled and spoke with each veteran.
Sgt. 1st Class Tim Beery, a media operations specialist with the 128th MPAD, was assigned to the White House Press Corps for the event and had a perfect view of the stage and the veterans. He said it was touching to watch the interactions of the presidents and the World War II veterans.
“I could see two or three of these veterans, probably 100 years old, welling up with tears when they met with President Biden,” he said. “It was really powerful seeing what the moment meant to the veterans and seeing the regard that we deservedly still hold them in.”
At the event, all the headstones of American service members were adorned with a French and American flag and there was a large turnout of nearly ten thousand people. C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft performed several fly bys over the cemetery and there were Navy ships anchored offshore. Brenchley recounted that the D-Day ceremony at the Normandy American Cemetery as the most memorable for him, especially when the World War II veterans were presented awards by the president of France.
“When Macron gave the World War II veterans the Legion of Honor, that to me was when I got the most emotional during the ceremony,” said Brenchley. “I may have shed a tear on that one, when he awarded and embraced all the veterans.”
As celebrations continued and the 128th MPAD team continued their work, their interactions with the World War II veterans and the Normandy community started to give them a new understanding of D-Day and the importance of the festivities to the people of Normandy.
Beery remarked that he understood the history of D-Day and the importance of it to the liberation of Europe in World War II. He had watched movies and television shows about the invasion in the past but being at the ceremonies and covering all the events gave him a new point of view.
“I didn't realize the magnitude of how big of a deal the D-Day anniversary is to the French people. Just seeing the level of reverence and appreciation and the overall gratitude and enthusiasm for the American service members and for what they did gave me a new perspective,” said Beery. “The French fought for their liberation too, but it seems like they hold our service higher than their own.”
Moving around from town to town wearing their military uniforms while working the different ceremonies and events, the team was treated like celebrities and heroes by the visitors and locals. Trading military shoulder patches and taking photos with groups of civilians happened daily at every event.
Sgt. Alejandro Lucero, a public affairs specialist and content creator with the 128th MPAD, was amazed at the celebrity treatment that he received by the locals even though he was a stranger to them.
“Little kids come up to you and say ‘patch’, ‘souvenir’. If you don’t have a patch for them then they settle for your autograph – from someone they don’t even know,” he said. “The people wanted to talk to us and interact with us. It was the coolest thing I've ever encountered in my whole life. I've never felt that kind of love in the U.S.”
MacGregor said that she enjoyed interacting with the locals and seeing the children dress up in World War II American Army outfits as well as handing out unit patches to people. She recounted a story about an older gentleman that walked up to her and put a French flag patch on her shoulder. She responded by giving him the unit patch off her uniform to him.
“He gave me a look of overwhelming gratitude and told me that he had been celebrating D-Day for over 50 years, and that he loved meeting Americans every year,” she said. “I was really impressed to see that the friendship between the United States and France is not just a military alliance, but a friendship between the citizens, as well.”
Due to his position as the lead D-Day planner for SOCEUR, Brenchley had an inside view of the importance of the annual celebrations to the people of Normandy. He said that it was stated early in the planning that the annual D-Day commemorations and events are French led and French desired and that the U.S. Military was only supporting and facilitating the events.
“The annual D-Day festivities means a lot to the people of Normandy, and this is something that they really care about,” he said. “It was really touching to see the partnership and relationship that has been built and carried on for 80 years after the liberation of these towns and villages.”
All of the 128th MPAD team cited the connection with French citizens as a highlight of the D-Day celebrations. However, for some of them, covering the D-Day events gave them a deeper connection to their family history. Three MPAD soldiers had grandparents who served in the European Theater during World War II and one of them had a great grandparent that stormed Omaha beach on June 6, 1944.
Staff Sgt. James Bunn’s grandfather was a combat medic who arrived at Sainte-Mere-Eglise two weeks after the D-Day invasion. Bunn, a public affairs specialist and content creator with the 128th MPAD, said his grandfather ran one of the evacuation hospitals there. Afterwards his grandfather fought in many other World War II battles, eventually earning a Bronze star with a V-device for valor. Bunn said that visiting the Normandy battle sites of Omaha and Utah beaches and Pointe Du Hoc gave him a new understanding of the D-Day invasion.
“Growing up in my house, we always held a lot of respect for those who served in World War II,” Bunn said. “Seeing all the real places around Normandy brought it to life and made it real for me.”
Sgt. Lucero also felt a connection to his family history while in Normandy. His great-grandfather, Rudolpho Romero, who Lucero remembered meeting when he was a young child, was on the initial waves of Americans that landed at Omaha Beach. Lucero recounted a special moment he had where he realized the gravity of his great grandfather’s sacrifice so many years ago. While Lucero was flying in a cargo aircraft and sitting on the tailgate at the end of a mission one evening, they flew over the beaches of Normandy, including the battle sights of Pointe Du Hoc, Utah and Omaha beaches where his great grandfather landed at D-Day.
“The sun was cresting over the horizon and the sky was golden, and I thought, wow, this is a very beautiful moment,” he said, “but when my great grandpa saw this, bullets were flying over his head and he was trying to avoid certain death.”
Lucero said that going into the D-Day commemorations that he knew the history of the invasion but did not completely understand its importance. It was not until he came to Normandy that it dawned on him that the sacrifice of the D-Day veterans was so important because they were defending the values of freedom against tyranny.
“It was something that was so moral, and so ethically true to people, they decided to pick up arms and defend those values that they saw as right,” he said.
On the last day of their mission in Normandy, the 128th MPAD Soldiers visited Utah Beach one more time to take group photos. The mood was jovial and the banter between them was lighthearted and fun, similar to a family gathering. Their photoshoot was constantly interrupted by passers-by wanting to take pictures with the group of American Soldiers. Eventually they were done and headed back across the beach. On their way to the parking lot they stopped a few more times for pictures with tourists before getting in their vehicles to head back to their home away from home in Germany.
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.07.2025 18:50 |
| Story ID: | 488789 |
| Location: | SAINTE-MèRE-ÉGLISE, FR |
| Web Views: | 150 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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