Frenchmen share stories of Normandy invasion
Lincy George
Issue date: 9/29/04 Section: News
- < prev Page 2 of 2
Errington said Guinet usually performs with others from the Comédie Française but because of the seriousness of the topic and budget constraints, his partners from the Comédie Française were unable to attend.
The last half of the lecture was given in English by Grelley. Grelley has been a race-car driver for 22 years, and he now lives in Arlington.
Grelley grew up in France with his family near the beach, and was only a boy of 8 when the invasion occurred.
One of the stories that he shared happened towards the end of the invasion when the bombing was at its worst. His family decided to wait out the evening in their homemade bunker; but when they got there, there were nine German soldiers already crammed into a four-person bunker.
Grelley's family and he spent the night huddled together in their home waiting to be hit any moment. In the morning, when the bombing had subsided, they went to check their property, and the bunker was completely destroyed.
Describing the site of the Normandy invasion, Grelley said, "Today if you go over there to Omaha beach, the soil is like a crater."
Grelley narrated an incident of French civilians covering the tracks of Allied spies to hide them from the German soldiers.
After the initial bombing, the people of his town saw four American paratroopers and a French Canadian paratrooper; the soldiers asked about a railroad bridge they wanted to blow up.
The French people gave the soldiers directions.
When German soldiers arrived later, asking if anyone had seen Allied soldiers, they were directed to search in the opposite direction.
In a later interview Grelley said at the time of the invasion he knew very little about the United States, but now he is an American citizen.
"Walter Cronkite, a friend of mine, said I am the only American who saw them [the allied forces] landing at Omaha beach. I had no idea then that one day I would come and be a U.S. citizen," he said.
Some attendees said they were affected by Grelley's testimony.
Julie Bergin, member of the North Texas French Alliance who attended the event, said, "[The] first-hand account [was a] once in a lifetime [experience]. It was definitely moving."
Katherine Axt, also a member of the North Texas French Alliance, said, "I've been to Normandy, so I could visualize what he was saying."
Other activities the French Club has planned for this year include trips to the Dallas Museum of Art's two French exhibits in October titled Masterworks of French Painting and Before Impressionism. See the French department's website, http://www.udallas.edu/modlang/french, for more details.
The last half of the lecture was given in English by Grelley. Grelley has been a race-car driver for 22 years, and he now lives in Arlington.
Grelley grew up in France with his family near the beach, and was only a boy of 8 when the invasion occurred.
One of the stories that he shared happened towards the end of the invasion when the bombing was at its worst. His family decided to wait out the evening in their homemade bunker; but when they got there, there were nine German soldiers already crammed into a four-person bunker.
Grelley's family and he spent the night huddled together in their home waiting to be hit any moment. In the morning, when the bombing had subsided, they went to check their property, and the bunker was completely destroyed.
Describing the site of the Normandy invasion, Grelley said, "Today if you go over there to Omaha beach, the soil is like a crater."
Grelley narrated an incident of French civilians covering the tracks of Allied spies to hide them from the German soldiers.
After the initial bombing, the people of his town saw four American paratroopers and a French Canadian paratrooper; the soldiers asked about a railroad bridge they wanted to blow up.
The French people gave the soldiers directions.
When German soldiers arrived later, asking if anyone had seen Allied soldiers, they were directed to search in the opposite direction.
In a later interview Grelley said at the time of the invasion he knew very little about the United States, but now he is an American citizen.
"Walter Cronkite, a friend of mine, said I am the only American who saw them [the allied forces] landing at Omaha beach. I had no idea then that one day I would come and be a U.S. citizen," he said.
Some attendees said they were affected by Grelley's testimony.
Julie Bergin, member of the North Texas French Alliance who attended the event, said, "[The] first-hand account [was a] once in a lifetime [experience]. It was definitely moving."
Katherine Axt, also a member of the North Texas French Alliance, said, "I've been to Normandy, so I could visualize what he was saying."
Other activities the French Club has planned for this year include trips to the Dallas Museum of Art's two French exhibits in October titled Masterworks of French Painting and Before Impressionism. See the French department's website, http://www.udallas.edu/modlang/french, for more details.