European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                K 4. L i a a sir j \ workers race the clock to finish renovations to the Utah Beach museum by the a Day anniversary. At left Jean Marie Oxe ant Wierville sur mers mayor stands beside a Monument to a . Army chaplain at Omaha Beach. A amps photos by Ken George undergoing face lifts for the june 6 ceremonies. At Utah Beach for example workers have virtually rebuilt a museum and work continues to clean up a memorial in Wierville to the . 29th div which helped blow up German fortifications on the Beach. The French Are moving Power lines away from monuments trimming grass and repainting Road markers. Nearly 50 years Worth of trash accumulated in German bunkers was cleaned out workers continue to scrub Graffiti off Walls near monuments. In Wierville with a population of 250, some homeowners have promised their 13th-Century chateaus to visiting dignitaries. In other towns like Signy just West of Wierville the . Army has reserved local gymnasiums for soldiers supporting the ceremony. All the preparation could add up to big Money for the French but Oxe ant and others Don t talk Money. That s not what it s All about they said. Quot we re trying to Welcome our friends Back to France said Jean Marie Chedal Sanglay one of the Wierville Celebration planners. Quot we want to thank them again maybe for the last time for some of them and Tell them we won t forget. This is their  in fact Oxe ant said the 50th anniversary will probably be the Quot last  Quot a lot of the veterans Are very old now Quot said Oxe ant whose father was the town s mayor during the War. This is their last Chance to come Back and see it. We Don t expect to see As Many Back Here As we have in the past. Enjoin 44, on Leur a Dit a thank you in juin 94, dates eur a a Welcome. A my a poster at a bus Stop in Wierville urges locals to say a Welcome Quot to the expected flood of veterans in june. Graphic artist Martine Rocher works on a Day diplomas for returning vets. Word of thanks from one generation to another by Mark Kinkade staff writer when Martine Rocher looks out Over the beaches of Normandy in France she sees thousands of Young soldiers lying dead or wounded on the Sand. Quot it s difficult when i m on the Beach Quot the 35-year-old Rocher said during lunch in her father s Home in Wierville sur Mer France. Quot i never see the sea without thinking of the veterans and the Young . After a lifetime of stories about the Day Allied soldiers stormed the Normandy beaches Rocher finally has a Chance to thank the veterans of the invasion in person. A Paris trained graphic artist Rocher has designed and printed More than 3,500 certificates for the veterans who will return for the 50th anniversary of the a Day invasion june 6. She. Wants to be there when they return to the Beach where their friends and comrades were killed and wounded. Each certificate is signed by the mayors of Wierville St. Laurent sur Mer and Colleyville the three towns fronting Omaha Beach. The 21/2-mile Beach was the site of the most intense and bloody a Day Battle Quot the certificates Are from us the French in gratitude Quot Rocher said. Quot it s a Small Token for our Freedom but i think the veterans will understand our  Rocher s appreciation for the heroes of a Day developed Early. Her father Jean Marie Chedal Sanglay was a Paris University student when the City was liberated during the War. The germans used her Grandfather s Wierville farm Only a few Miles from Omaha Beach As a command Post. As a child growing up in Post world War ii France Rocher was constantly reminded that France owed a great debt to the Allied nations that stormed ashore june 6,1944. They freed the country it her father would Tell her. They saved the French. As a 35-year-old Mother of three she has made it her Mission to keep the memory of those dark War Days alive in her children. Now she sees herself As a link to the past forged in the fires of world War. Quot my generation is a connection Between our parents and our children Quot Rocher said. Quot we owe it to our children to teach them about the heroes who made it possible for us to be sitting Here today Quot years from now when the 50th anniversary is a memory and the veterans have passed away Rocher believes the significance of a Day will live with the children of France. Quot we Call it the liberation not the invasion Quot Rocher said. Quot it was the Day our country was freed. We cannot forget that.  monday april 18,1994 the stars and stripes 21