Never Forget : The Stand at Sainte-Mère-Église
The 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions took a stand against fascist Germany, and aimed to liberate the town of Sainte-Mère-Église, a strategic crossroad in Normandy. Consequently Simone Renaud, a French civilian in the town of Sainte-Mère-Église, took a stand to establish a special relationship between the civilians of Sainte-Mère-Église and the families of deceased American soldiers.
THE STAGE IS SET
Adolf Hitler, dictator of Germany, giving a speech,
938, Washington State University
During the late 1930's, Adolf Hitler began his rise to power. Great Britain and France did not oppose him, as they were not eager to begin another war. Hitler was already too strong, and as he conquered France and made alliances with the Japanese and the Russians, he seemed unstoppable. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the U.S. finally joined the war, producing another ally for the Allies and turning the tide of World War II.
"It is not truth that matters, but victory. "
- Adolf Hitler, 1938
Defenses of the Atlantic wall,
1944, SAINTE MERE EGLISE
In anticipation of D-Day, Allied strategists and leaders were constantly testing and training troops in the Vaagso Islands off the coast of Norway and the French port of Diepp. Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the President of the United States of America, set a date in 1944, and began to prepare for the invasion of France. The Germans were also busy, creating a coast of deathtraps and heavily armored defenses known as the Atlantic wall.
Map of the plan of the Normandy Invasion,
1944, National Archives
After intense meetings and arguments, the Allied Leaders decided on the beaches of Normandy over Pas-de-Calais. An elaborate deception plan was created by the Allies to deceive the Germans by creating fake armies near Pas-de-Calais and sending corpses with "important" documents suggesting the landing spot at Pas-de-Calais. Deceptive bombings were orchestrated to cut off supplies and communication to the coast. Although weather postponed the invasion for a day, Operation Overlord continued, and eventually would be the first of many steps in destroying the Nazis.
“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies."
- Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, 1943
Dwight D. Eisenhower talking to the 101st Airborne before takeoff,
944, National Archives
"You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you ... Good luck! And let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces 1944
THE STAND AT SAINTE-MÈRE-ÉGLISE
PREPARATIONS FOR THE AIRBORNE UNITS
D-DAY: June 6, 1944: ACTION at the Normandy Beaches, 2014, Historical Footage
n June 5th, 1944 paratroopers were massing in C-47 sky train aircraft all across the eastern coasts of Great Britain. Below, thousands of soldiers were loaded into amphibious landing craft as floating tanks bobbed alongside.
Map of the Normandy Airborne Landings,
944, National Archives
SAINTE-MÈRE-ÉGLISE
John Steele landing on the church steeple, an iconic image of the landings at Sainte-Mère-Église because it revealed to heartbroken families where their deceased family members were
1962, The Longest Day
On June 6th, 1944, the 101st and 82nd Airborne flew over the English Channel. Their target was the strategically important town of Sainte-Mère-Église. Many roads passed through the town, making it an ideal place for the large numbers of infantry and vehicles coming up Utah Beach. The paratroopers had to secure the town in order for the units to penetrate to the center of Germany. t one in the morning, the residents of Sainte-Mère-Église stood in the town square fighting a fire when the paratroopers of the 101st and 82nd Airborne floated down from the sky. Immediately the Germans stationed in the town began to fire upon the unlucky paratroopers. Many paratroopers, like John Steele, were caught on protruding objects, stranding their victims in the open and subject to enemy fire. John Steele was shot in the foot, and played dead for two hours before he was captured. He eventually escaped and returned to his company.
Battling in the Normandy Orchards.
944, SAINTE MERE EGLISE
Paratroopers dropped to the ground and fought valiantly against the German battalions. The civilians retreated into ditches and cellars. They dug trenches and hid in waterholes, knowing that if the paratroopers were defeated, their fates would be sealed. The paratroopers fought on; losses had been slight in most areas, and many were already moving out into the hedgerows to hunt down the remaining Germans. Eventually the town was secured and the Americans dug in to defend Sainte-Mère-Église and the soldiers of Omaha Beach, ending the four year reign of the Nazis in Sainte-Mère-Église.
Civilians being helped by American Soldiers,
944, SAINTE MERE EGLISE
As the paratroopers moved into the dangerous terrain of the hedgerows to quell German resistance and other misdropped paratroopers moved around trying to find their rendezvous, French peasants guided them through flooded fields and muddy swamps leading them to their destinations however high the risk might be for them. They led the soldiers in a show of unyielding gratitude that would continue after D-Day in the stand and heart of Simone Renaud.
MOTHER OF NORMANDY
SIMONE RENAUD IN LIFE MAGAZINE 1944
Utah Beach - Omaha Beach - Sainte-Mère-Eglise - 06/1944 - DDay-Overlord,
944, National Archives
During the war, Madame Simone Renaud, the wife of the mayor of Sainte-Mère-Église, had watched dozens of American paratroopers die for her town at the hands of merciless German guns. As men died around her, she told her sons, "Never Forget", to preserve the sacrifices of the soldiers in American and French hearts. She would ensure the story of the stand at Sainte-Mère-Église would not be forgotten, earning herself a place in history.
"One picture I took in the war has been used now for 65 years! I said, can you believe that? I did fifty years of American history. Every textbook, every encyclopedia. These are one of the little stories you do, because they're important little stories, they're the Ernie Pyle kinda story of, in pictures that are words."
"If you were the mother of a kid that was killed in Normandy, you're in South Dakota. You're a farmer. You can't just pack up and go to Sainte-Mère-Église. She opened a method of you being in touch with your child, your dead child."
- Ralph Morse
After the invasion of Normandy, Simone Renaud began to do what she could for the American soldiers who died in her village. Every day, she would visit the graves of the American G.I.'s to place flowers and keep them company. She took care of graves regardless of rank, from the lowest private to a Brigadier General. When a budding young army photographer by the name of Ralph Morse arrived in Sainte-Mère-Église, he was impressed and touched by the simple acts of humanity of Madame Renaud.
THE CEMETERIES
Maurice Renaud, son of Madame Renaud places flowers on Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s grave, on the cover of the French magazine, Le Monte Illustre
1947, Sainte-Mère-Église: American Sanctuary in Normandy
Morse's picture of Simone Renaud appeared in Life Magazine in 1944, showing her tending to Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s grave, providing hope to grieving American families all over the USA, and changing her life forever.
American G.I. families whose sons and husbands had died near the town of Sainte-Mère-Église were not able to locate the graves of their loved ones. After the photograph, they knew they had found their sons. Soon, Madame Renaud was receiving dozens of letters daily, and daily sending dozens back to families, often with flowers, soil from the grave, and poems composed by her. This became the birth of a correspondence between Madame Renaud and the American families that would last throughout her entire life.
Most gracious lady, you are probably closer to us than any other person in this world, because you are so near physically and spiritually to our son."
- Letter to Simone Renaud, 1946
In 1945, the U.S. Army decided to move the bodies of the American soldiers to a new gravesite near Omaha Beach. Simone Renaud sent letters to generals and the highest ranked officials in the U.S. Army begging that the cemeteries stay in Sainte-Mère-Église. Although she lost the fight, she continued to preserve the story of the 101stand the 82nd Airborne in the hearts of Americans and French alike making sure no one forgot the sacrifices they made to regain a peaceful world.
A bugle call at a temporary cemetery in Sainte-Mère-Église,
944, National Archives
They came from far away, far away
To obtain peace and fight for the just cause
Please let them have this modest spot
Of Norman soil -just this little space-
Leave this to them, leave them to us
They came from so high
To save blessed liberty
Let the little painted crosses
Show the stars where they lie
Let these thousands of white crosses
Spring forth of our turf and flowers
Let their dust stay under our branches
As their names are in our hearts
- Simone Renaud, in her poem; Let the Tree Be Where It Fell, on the removal of the American Cemeteries from Sainte-Mère-Église
Maurice Renaud, son of Mayor Alexandre Renaud and Madame Simone Renaud, dressed up as a little paratrooper, shaking hands with Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Supreme Commander of the Allied forces, and President-Elect of the United States of America
952, SAINTE MERE EGLISE
Today, re-enactments continue in the town every June 6th. Simone Renaud's legacy still lives on in the museums, memorials, on names of avenues, boulevards, and the societies she founded, like the Association for Veterans of America (AVA). Both Simone Renaud's legacy and stand to "Never Forget" still lives on, for the French and the Americans have not forgotten.
At the 20th anniversary of D-Day gathering, Left to right: John Steele, paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne, Alexandre Renaud, the mayor of Sainte-Mère-Église, and William "Bill" Tucker, paratrooper of the 82nd Airborne.
Legacy
Today, tourists gather in the town that was the beginning of D-Day, to celebrate the values of D-Day that all of mankind appreciates; freedom, justice, and most of all, friendship. Many people from around the world visit the quaint town of Sainte-Mère-Église, to learn of the stand of the 101st and 82nd Airborne, and their role in the tragic story of World War II. Even as they grow old, the veterans of the 101st and 82nd Airborne and the family members of deceased soldiers from those companies still find time to pay their respects to Simone Renaud, the woman who dedicated her life to changing theirs.
Clip from the documentary, Mother of Normandy, 2010
"This major chapter in the story of our liberation is illustrated by the memories your canton, its mayors, its citizens, and you yourself, have engraved in the minds of the young American elite... I owe you a debt of gratitude, as a fighter on the beaches of Normandy, as a follower of General De Gaulle, but also, and perhaps mostly, as France's minister of Foreign Affairs."
- Maurice Schumann, member of the French Academy in a letter to Simone Renaud
The Normandy American Cemetery, product of the first temporary cemeteries in Sainte-Mère-Église.
History Channel, 2016
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY
“The Battle of the Hedgerows.” LIFE, 7 Aug. 1944, pp. 17-23.
I learned about hedgerow battle in Normandy and fighting around the first towns liberated. This contributed to my project by providing information about the fighting around Sainte-Mère-Église that I would incorporate into The Stand At Sainte-Mère-Église page.
Renaud, Henri-Jean. Interview. Nov. 2016 - Jan. 2017
Henri-Jean Renaud helped me gain photographs of 1944 during D-Day, and he kindly sent me his father's book, SAINTE MERE EGLISE, which provided me with his father's point of view during the invasion and many primary source photographs, and his mother's poems, which I used in my website. He also provided me with his point of view of the operation in his town.
Trez, Michel De. American soldier helping Frenchwoman and child carry their belongings to the trenches. June 1944. SAINTE MERE EGLISEphotographs of D-Day.
Shows the compassion and help between the French civilians and the American soldiers that Simone Renaud would strengthen. Even during D-Day, the French and the paratroopers were making bonds that would continue in Simone Renaud's stand. These bonds would help her to be able to talk personally to the deceased soldier's families.
---. German Propaganda in France. June 1944. SAINTE MERE EGLISE photographs of D-Day.
TEXT: "The Anglo-American, incendiaries of the West, obedient servants of the Jews and at the same time of the Bolsheviks, are busy devastating the land of your beautiful country, at present spared by the war, and bombing your women and children. The German soldier will thwart the projects of these men. Help him to keep those assassins in the service of Jewry far from your beautiful country, by erecting poles in your fields and pastures to stop landing troops and parachutists."
This propaganda shows that the Germans were trying to cooperate with and use the occupied people, and from the accounts in SAINTE MERE EGLISE and Sainte-Mère-Église: American Sanctuary in Normandy, I concluded that they failed in bringing the French to their side.
---. Making Dresses out of Parachutes. June 1944. SAINTE MERE EGLISE photographs of D-Day.
Shows the compassion and help between the French civilians and the American soldiers that Simone Renaud would strengthen. Even during D-Day, the French and the Paratroopers were making bonds that would continue in Simone Renaud's Stand. These bonds would help her to be able to talk personally to the deceased soldier's families.
We Stand Alone Together - Band of Brothers Documentary. HBO, 2001.
The Band of Brothers documentary was extremely helpful with many oral histories of the 101st Airborne. You can see the veterans' facial expressions, and see their emotions, providing you with insight into their experiences and character.
John W. Marr D-Day Oral History. Performance by JohnW. Marr, 2009. The National WW2 Museum New Orleans, www.nationalww2museum.org/see-hear/collections/oral-histories/.
Experiences of a veteran paratrooper during D-Day. Rough information on hedgerow fighting, the difficulties for the airborne troops, and some background information. Helped me on The Stage Is Set page mostly and a little on the Stand At Sainte-Mère-Église page.
The Longest Day. Directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, Gerd Oswald, and Darryl F. Zanuck, Darryl F. Zanuck Productions and Twentieth Century Fox Film, 1962.
Gave me clips of John Steele on the church steeple, which also played a role in making known Sainte-Mère-Église to the deceased American soldier's families. This was an iconic image in the remembrance of Sainte-Mère-Église.
NARA, Record Group 111-SC. National Archives, www.archives.gov/. Accessed Feb 2nd. 2017.
Photo of a bugle call at the temporary cemeteries in Sainte-Mère-Église. This was probably from a burial, possibly the burial of Brigadier General Roosevelt.
War History Online, www.warhistoryonline.com/featured/d-day-stunning-footage-allied-airborne-forces-15-photos.html.
This website showed many Archival photos that I put into my website, including one of the videos on the Mother of Normandy page.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower Crossing English Channel. 7 June 1944. National Archives, www.archives.gov/research. Accessed Feb 2nd. 2017.
Photo of Dwight D. Eisenhower with the 101st Airborne used on The Stage is Set page.
Renaud, Alexandre. SAINTE MERE EGLISE. Paris, Julliard, 1986.
This helped me understand the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions stand from the French point of view, or more specifically, Alexandre Renaud’s (the mayor of Sainte-Mère-Église) point of view on the invasion. This provided me with many of the photographs on my website and they're all primary.
“Roosevelt Buried Services for ‘Young Teddy’ are held on Long Island.” LIFE, 7 Aug. 1944, pp. 26-27.
This magazine held the photo by Ralph Morse that made Simone Renaud known. This was a pivotal point in her stand as without the picture, the families in America would have still sent their letters to the mayor of Sainte-Mère-Église and her struggle to keep the sacrifices of D-Day remembered would have been much harder. The Operation Democracy started by Locust Valley might not have been started, providing no relief to a ruined France. Without this photo, her memories of the 101st and the 82nd Airborne would have been completely forgotten, and so would her stand.
MOTHER of Normandy The Story of Simone Renaud. Directed by Doug Stebleton, Reminiscent Films, 2010.
This documentary provided me with information on Simone Renaud and her whole story. This was extremely helpful on the Mother of Normandy page, and most of the information came from this documentary.
Difficult going in the Normandy orchards. 1944 SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE
Showed battling in Normandy, and from the description and numerous sources I've seen, they had it tough.
June 6th 1964, the 20th anniversary of D-Day, John Steele, who parachuted on the steeple (left) and William Tucker, who landed near what is now the Museum, on either side of the Mayor of Sainte-Mère-Église. 1944 SAINTE-MERE-EGLISE
I used this on the Legacy page because it illustrates the present day relationships between Sainte-Mère-Église and the American Veterans, as seen in this picture, John Steele, William Tucker, and Alexandre Renaud are speaking to each other. It also is an example of the modern impact of the stand of the 101st and the 82nd Airborne, and also Simone Renaud.
SECONDARY
Ambrose, Stephen Edward. Band of Brothers. New York City, Simon & Schuster, 2001.
This book gave me info on the training and methods of the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions in preparation for D-Day. This book included many personal tidbits that made the soldiers real to me. I hope people visit my website and look upon these deaths differently from how they have before, understand that these are human lives these planners were dealing with, so we can relate and comfort those families today as those in the time of Simone Renaud. As Joseph Stalin once said, " One death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic."
Burgett, Donald R. Currahee! A Screaming Eagle at Normandy. New York City, Dell Publishing, 1967.
This helped me learn about the training of the 101st and 82nd Airborne prior to Normandy and a paratrooper's view on the whole operation.
Dehays, Antonin. Sainte-Mère-Église:American Sanctuary in Normandy. Orep Editions, 2015.
This helped me understand the battles and stand at Sainte-Mère-Église and the cemeteries. Not a lot of information on Simone Renaud, but enough to get you interested.
History.com. grave-markers-at-normandy-american-cemetery.
his picture I used on the Legacy page to show the present-day cemeteries to balance the embracing of the past, and the creation of the future, which turned into this cemetery. It was not necessarily used for the historical value, but more for the sentimental value.
Jones, Thomas D. Encyclopedia of the United States at War. Scholastic, 2003.
This source gave me a general overview of WWII, major battles, the Pacific Front, the Eastern Front, Normandy, Pearl Harbor, etc. This helped me on The Stage Is Set page.
The Longest Day. Directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki, Gerd Oswald, and Darryl F. Zanuck, Darryl F. Zanuck Productions and Twentieth Century Fox Film, 1962.
Gave me clips of John Steele on the church steeple, which also played a role in making known Sainte-Mère-Église to the deceased American soldier's families. This was an iconic image in the remembrance of Sainte-Mère-Église.
Weinberg, Gerhard Ludwig. WWII a Very Short Introduction. Oxford, Oxford UP, 2014.
This source gave me a general overview of WWII, major battles, the Pacific Front, the Eastern Front, Normandy, Pearl Harbor, etc. This helped me on The Stage Is Set page.
WW2 in HD Color. Narrated by Robert Powell, NM Productions, 2009.
This source gave me a general overview of WWII, major battles, the Pacific Front, the Eastern Front, Normandy, Pearl Harbor, etc. This helped me on The Stage Is Set page.
Surviving D-Day. Directed by Richard Dale, Dangerous Films, 2011.
Taught me the dangers of being a paratrooper and people that stood out during D-Day.
Dehays, Antonin. Interview. Dec. 2016.
The interview helped me contact Henri-Jean Renaud, and provided me with further information on Simone Renaud. It also helped to have a close contact in Sainte-Mère-Église and so near to Normandy. I used the poem in my website and he helped me a lot with his book, which outlined lots of information on the stand at Sainte-Mère-Église and the cemeteries.
PROCESS PAPER
World War II has always been an interesting topic for me to read about. Prior to NHD, I had spent many hours reading about WWII, and when my teacher attended the Albert H. Smalls Normandy Sacrifice for Freedom program, she received a book called, Sainte-Mère-Église: American Sanctuary in Normandy, I was intrigued and wanted to share this fascinating story through my NHD project, as it was perfect for the theme. As I read and learned more about it, I decided to focus on the sacrifices of the soldiers who laid down their lives for us and the freedom of the French until I delved deeper and discovered a unique figure, Madame Renaud, a citizen of the town of Sainte-Mère-Église, whose main goal in life was to let the whole world know, and Never Forget the sacrifice the 101st and 82nd Airborne divisions made for each French citizen individually, including her and her family. So I decided to combine two monumental stands in history to create an inspirational story.
The Sainte-Mère-Église: American Sanctuary in Normandy book provided me with photos and information on the temporary cemeteries in Sainte-Mère-Église, and information on the soldiers' role in Sainte-Mère-Église. The Mother of Normandy documentary provided me with overwhelming info on Simone Renaud, and, SAINTE MERE EGLISE, the memoirs of Alexandre Renaud, the mayor of Sainte-Mère-Église provided me with photographs concerning the paratroopers' drops and the experiences through his eyes during D-Day. The Photographs of Sainte-Mère-Église book provided me with primary source photographs. I also contacted Henri-Jean Renaud, the son of Simone Renaud, and communicated to him via an email interview, who provided me with his father's book and his mother's poetry. The challenge of my project was not being able to interview surviving veterans of the 101st and 82nd Airborne units, so I utilized the website of the National WWII Museum for oral histories.
I chose a website presentation because it would be the most interactive medium, which would allow showing lots of substance in a clean, informational way. I included multiple video and audio clips at the same time conveying a lot of information without being one long boring piece of text. The only problem I had in Weebly was that it was very hard to work with on an iPad, and since I only had an iPad as my portable device to bring to school, as a result, the creation of my website was slow in the making.
The happenings at Sainte-Mère-Église are relevant to this year's theme, Taking A Stand In History because it embodies the WWII struggle of the underdog versus the heavy-hitter, in which the underdog wins. It is the stand of good against evil. It is special, not just because the most important battle of D-Day rested on the shoulders of these paratroopers, but because a beautiful relationship between two nations blossomed out of the ashes of war.
