REMEMBER THESE GUYS? Fifty years ago this June 6, they risked their lives storming Normandy beaches to free France from Hitler's grip. Now mostly in their 70s, these British and Canadian D-Day veterans planned one final reunion commemorating World War II's "longest day." To be sure of places to stay, they booked hotel rooms near the Normandy beaches two years ahead of June's anniversary and paid deposits. Last week, the French government, reaching new heights of haughty ingratitude, requisitioned their rooms for visiting royalty and left 200 veterans with nowhere to stay for the day. Predictably, the veterans were, as one ex-paratrooper put it, "spitting blood." Predictably, Britain and Canada protested. Predictably, France backed down. The vets got their rooms back. Europe's crowned heads of state will now probably be housed in Paris and helicoptered to D-Day ceremonies, an expense France tried to avoid by displacing the veterans.
Canada's ambassador called the veterans "the real heroes of this celebration" and voiced hope there would be no more slights. Don't bet on it. D-Day anniversaries rank as photo ops in Normandy for politicians who never saw combat_Ronald Reagan for the 40th, Bill Clinton for the 50th_and security arrangements limit the numbers of vets who can attend. Many old soldiers are appalled at how politicians have co-opted their anniversary. "In 1944," one Canadian vet notes, "we didn't have to reserve two years in advance."
