VOA标准英语2009-D-Day Remembered 65 Years After Allied Invas

On June 6, 1944 over 150,000 Allied¹ troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, in northern France, in a push to liberate² Europe from Hitler's Nazi³ forces. Now, 65 years later, the memories of that day linger along that windswept coast and its quiet villages.

Stretches of broad, sandy beach form much of this coastline in northern France. It is a good place to walk and think.

But, on June 6, 1944, it was not so. American, British and Canadian troops and French commandos stormed these beaches from their landing craft. They ran, crawled and fought their way through German gunfire from above the beaches.

This was "Operation Overlord," commonly known as D-Day.

Now 65 years later many in the villages here, such as Ste. Mere⁴ Eglise, remember.
　
Cecile Gancel

For Cecile Gancel, the Allied landing fueled the hope of freedom from Nazi occupation. "I remember one soldier who came in, clicked his heels and saluted⁵ with the usual "Heil Hitler." My mother, who was a very forthright⁶ woman, said "No, no Hitler here. Hitler will soon be gone," Gancel said.
　
Suzanne Duchemin

There were fears the Allies might never come. But they did. First, the Americans parachuted behind German positions and some of them landed at the family chateau⁷ of Suzanne Duchemin. "We all came out into the garden and, in the thicket⁸ over there, there were all these parachutes strewn about. There were about 15 American soldiers here, all very relaxed as they came toward us," she said.

Duchemin was in her early 20s when she saw the Americans in her back garden.
　
Leon Gaultier

Leon Gautier was a young French commando back then. He took part in D-Day and remembers having very clear instructions. "We had orders not to stop even for a wounded friend, nothing like that. Our job was to take the position on top of the beach. We ran, we were soaking wet, but we did not even remember being wet," he said.

The Allied operation took place on beaches all along the Normandy coast. Over 150,000 Americans, Canadians, Britons and French came ashore⁹ here. Another 20,000 Americans parachuted behind enemy lines.
　
Stephane Simmonet

Stephane Simmonet is a military historian at the War Memorial Museum in nearby Caen. "It was the beginning of the liberation of Europe. The objective of the Allies was Berlin, not Normandy, not Caen," he said.

In the months after D-Day came the liberation of Paris, the push across the Rhine River into Germany and onward¹⁰. It would be another year before the war in Europe was finally over.
　
American Cemetary in Colleville-sur-Mer, France

The sacrifices were great. In the U.S. cemetery¹¹ at Colleville-sur-Mer lie the remains¹² of more than 9,000 Americans who died on the beaches of Normandy or fighting in the hinterland in the weeks that followed.

In the nearby German war cemetery in La Cambe lie nearly 20,000 German soldiers.

More than 425,000 Allied and German soldiers were killed, wounded or missing in action during the fighting in Normandy.

Thousands of French civilians¹³ were also killed, mainly in Allied bombings.
　
Henri Jean Renaud

Henri Jean Renaud witnessed the events as a young boy. Today, he still believes the sacrifices were necessary. "For us the liberation was something extraordinary. Very often wars cannot be justified¹⁴. But, this one had to be fought, had to be won," he said.

In the end, he says this led to reconciliation¹⁵ among the peoples of Europe and to the peace Europe enjoys today.

Every year, Allied leaders come here to commemorate¹⁶ the events of 1944 and the liberation of Europe. This year is no different.

1 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

2 liberate   

v.解放，使获得自由，释出，放出；vt.解放，使获自由

参考例句：

• They did their best to liberate slaves.他们尽最大能力去解放奴隶。
• This will liberate him from economic worry.这将消除他经济上的忧虑。

3 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

4 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

5 saluted   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼。
• He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他挥手向他的朋友致意。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 forthright   

adj.直率的，直截了当的 [同]frank

参考例句：

• It's sometimes difficult to be forthright and not give offence.又直率又不得罪人，这有时很难办到。
• He told me forthright just why he refused to take my side.他直率地告诉我他不肯站在我这一边的原因。

7 chateau   

n.城堡，别墅

参考例句：

• The house was modelled on a French chateau.这房子是模仿一座法国大别墅建造的。
• The chateau was left to itself to flame and burn.那府第便径自腾起大火燃烧下去。

8 thicket   

n.灌木丛，树林

参考例句：

• A thicket makes good cover for animals to hide in.丛林是动物的良好隐蔽处。
• We were now at the margin of the thicket.我们现在已经来到了丛林的边缘。

9 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

10 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。

11 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

14 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

15 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

16 commemorate   

vt.纪念，庆祝

参考例句：

• This building was built to commemorate the Fire of London.这栋大楼是为纪念“伦敦大火”而兴建的。
• We commemorate the founding of our nation with a public holiday.我们放假一日以庆祝国庆。