Volume 6, No. 25 ©SS 2014
FRIDAY, JUNE 6, 2014
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COVER STORY
A sample of reader comments from
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Many angered by Bergdahl recovery Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl’s recovery after five years in captivity has rekindled anger among some of his military peers over how he came to fall into enemy hands and the price the United States has paid to get him back. The Army will conduct a “comprehensive” review of the disappearance and subsequent capture, the service announced Tuesday.
Readers respond: Nice to know our commander-in-stupidity negotiates with terrorists! this endangers all of us, not just soldiers! — Michaela Daniels Bergdahl isn’t worth the lives of the men lost looking for him or the terrorists we traded him for. Karma, Bergdahl, karma. — otisrneedleman If this guy did in fact desert then well they should have just left him where he was ... but if there is any chance this is not the case, then we should have done anything possible to get him back. — stephen michaels What happened to the VA issues? It was taken to the back burner and soon, you all will forget about it for a while until something else comes up. — ramhid Obama needed what he thought would be a positive distraction from the VA scandal. Looks like it backfired on him. — thecalmvoiceofreason Join the fray at: stripes.com/go/bergdahl
VOICE O F JIHAD
WEBSITE /AP
The Taliban on Wednesday released a video showing the handover of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl to U.S. forces, touting the swap of the American soldier for five Taliban detainees from Guantanamo as a significant achievement for the insurgents.
Bergdahl: Phases of reintegration BY CHRIS CARROLL Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — The man at the center of a raging controversy over his captivity and release by the Taliban likely isn’t fully aware of the tumult he has caused. Military officials and experts on the prisoner of war experience say Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has been in a protective bubble since his May 31 release after five years of Taliban captivity. Bergdahl, 28, an Idaho native, was exchanged for five senior Taliban prisoners who were transferred from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility to Qatar. He’s being evaluated at the military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany. He’s being shielded from anger directed at him, as critics — including troops who served with him — charge him with deserting his base and endangering his comrades in arms, a number of whom were said to have been killed or injured in subsequent searches. But he’s also being shielded from the damaging disorientation that can occur when long-held captives return to society without proper reorientation. “When you have prolonged captivity — five years — someone is going to be a little bit like Rip Van Winkle,” said Dr. Frank Ochberg, a pioneering psychiatrist in the field of trauma recovery who
helped develop key concepts, including that of post-traumatic stress. “It’s a slice of your life that has been taken out.” But lost time may pale in significance to other damaging effects of being a prisoner of war, Ochberg said. Although it’s not known what Berghdahl might have experienced, other survivors of longterm captivity have suffered ill effects of prolonged isolation, mistreatment and horrifying experiences, leading to the onset of painful and potentially crippling post-traumatic stress injury, he said. So what’s happening to Bergdahl now? While the military has declined to release specifics about his physical and emotional state, officials have detailed the U.S. military’s three-phase POW “reintegration” program that he entered as soon as Special Forces troops took him from his Taliban captors in an arranged handoff. The program’s roots lie in the 1973 return of hundreds of POWs in Operation
Homecoming, and have been fine-tuned using medical and psychological research in the intervening decades. “Reintegration has been going on for years,” said Arwen Consaul, a spokeswoman for U.S. Army South, which treats returned Army POWs as well as other troops and civilians held in U.S. Southern Command. “Since the Vietnam POWs came back, we realized there needed to be a process to get them back into society and be able to cope with what they’d been through. Through years of studying POWs and talking to POWs, we’ve been able to continually refine our process.” Phase 1 of reintegration begins as soon as a POW is released and involves medical treatment and psychological support in the theater where the release occurs. Each phase of the process involves debriefing the returned POW, focusing especially on any tactical information the returnee might be able to provide the military. SEE PAGE 3
‘ When you have prolonged captivity — five years —
someone is going to be a little bit like Rip Van Winkle It’s a slice of your life that has been taken out.
’
Dr. Frank Ochberg psychiatrist in the field of trauma recovery
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Bergdahl is in Phase 2, known as “decompression,” which experts say can last from three days to a few weeks. For Bergdahl, this phase is taking place at Landstuhl. Although stable, he requires nutritional care after years of bad food, as well as other medical work that military officials have refused to specify. Vietnam POWs released during Operation Homecoming underwent a three-day period at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines that bears some similarity to the current decompression regimen. It was a welcome step that eased the way back to life in the United States, one former POW said. “It would not be a wise thing to do, I think, to take a guy and throw him back in with his family before the military has had a chance to talk with him or debrief him,” said retired Navy Capt. Mike McGrath, a pilot who spent nearly six years in a North Vietnamese prison and underwent torture after being shot down in 1967. But it’s not just talking that Bergdahl is likely being asked to do, McGrath said. After five years of arduous captivity, he might have medical needs similar to those of the Vietnam POWs. “We had a lot of guys missing teeth, from beatings or rocks in the food or whatever,” he said. “When we got to Clark, they had a whole bank of dentists ready. They were taking care of periodontal disease, and if you had broken out teeth they were making temporary bridges so you could meet your family with no teeth missing. That might seem pretty small to you, but to guys meeting their families for the first time in years, it meant a lot.” Other prisoners were suffering from parasites, long-term infections and open wounds that needed treatment, McGrath said. During decompression, according to an Army fact sheet, former POWs are attended by team that includes medical personnel and at least one psychologist trained in survival, escape, evasion and resistance. The phase also includes operational and intelligence briefings. Pentagon officials have declined to offer details on the specific nature of Bergdahl’s debriefings. But if the sergeant engaged in misconduct in connection with his disappearance from his base in Paktika province in 2009, he might be subject to discipline, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey said Tuesday on his Facebook
A sample of reader comments from
stripes.com
I always thought desertion was proven at a courtmartial. Bergdahl probably deserted or at least went AWOL. But he has a right to trial before being judged. — Woodyb4
Accompanied by President Barack Obama, Jani Bergdahl and Bob Bergdahl speak about the release of their son, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, during a news conference in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Saturday. page. “Our Army’s leaders will not look away from misconduct if it occurred,” he wrote. But, echoing other Pentagon statements, Dempsey said that caring for Bergdahl and his family after a horrific ordeal is the priority. Ochberg, who has spent a career treating and interviewing military and civilian survivors of trauma, said he trusts Dempsey and other leaders who say that Bergdahl is being treated as a patient rather than a suspect. Although “debriefing” might sound intimidating, it can be a key part of the healing process, he said. The first step is to not be too intrusive, Ochberg said. “When I am a psychiatrist talking to someone has been through quite an ordeal, rather than just talking about what’s going on with them, it’s important to establish a good relationship — to have a conversation rather than an interrogation, and be cautious in exploring traumatic and painful events,” he said. In the right hands, debriefing is positive, he said. Research on victims of conflict who were given a chance to tell their story to sympathetic listeners in tribunals overseas shows they had better psychological outcomes than those who did not speak about it, Ochberg said. Now is not the time to try to build a disciplinary or legal case against Bergdahl, he said. “I assume that what is going on now is medical and is what the secretary of defense has said and the president has said it is,” he said. “If it turns out that investigation shows that anybody tried to take advantage of a weakened state, I would
‘ If it turns out that investigation shows that anybody tried to take advantage of a weakened state, I would consider that a miscarriage of justice.
’
Dr. Frank Ochberg psychiatrist in the field of trauma recovery
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Whatever happens to him legally I see a movie and a book deal coming out of it for the family at a minimum. If he deserted it is a shame they can profit from that. — maschrack
consider that a miscarriage of justice.” In Phase 3 of reintegration, which will occur at San Antonio Military Medical Center in Texas, Bergdahl will be reunited with family and begin to slowly move back into normal life in America. “Families play a critical role in assisting the returnee in gaining control and predictability over their circumstances,” according to an Army fact sheet. “The key is to include the family in the reintegration planning to ensure they understand the benefits of the process.” During this final phase, which officials said can last weeks or longer, Bergdahl will be attended to by a large, multidisciplinary team that has been monitoring his case and planning for his return for years in twice-yearly meetings, said Consaul of Army South. Among them are planners, air crew, chaplains, medical personnel, public affairs officals and attorneys, she said. “We want this to be as seamless for the family as possible so they can focus on the reintegration process,” she said. The Bergdahl family, Ochberg said, has appeared as a model of love and support throughout their son’s long captivity. So has his hometown of Hailey, Idaho. A warm homecoming can make a difference, Ochberg said. But so can a harsh one, which Bergdahl might experience as questions about why he became a POW in the first place heat up. At some point in his three-phase reintegration, he’ll have to be exposed to what many of his former comrades are saying about him. “We know from bitter experience that a poor reception after military service reduces the psychological health of the veteran, and that a warm reception helps,” he said. Regarding Bergdahl, “There’s a lot of assumption and presumption, and it’s unfortunate from a medical point of view when an individual becomes the focus of a raging controversy.”
The guy may be Benedict Arnold reincarnated, but that does not mean that America can get picky about which American prisoner of war it releases from captivity and which one it doesn’t. Instead of crucifying the guy without knowing all the facts ... let’s give the Army time to conduct a proper investigation and get to the truth. — Rafael Grajales Garrett I hope he gets well, goes home, hugs his mom and disappears ... to never be seen in public again. — GarryOwen6 Wow ... He is getting more medical and psychological help than our veterans left to die on a waiting list. ... — Constance Roberts Hoffman Doubtful we’ll even find the carpet this gets swept under — Jack Cloud They made a show about this. It’s called “Homeland.” Just saying. — Melissa McCord Amos Join the fray at: stripes.com/go/bergdahl
Carroll.chris@stripes.com Twitter: @ChrisCarroll_
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EUROPE
Obama touts $1B plan to boost US military presence in eastern countries
BY JOHN VANDIVER Stars and Stripes
P
STUTTGART, Germany resident Barack Obama announced Tuesday that he will seek $1 billion to boost the U.S. military presence in eastern Europe as part of an effort to reassure and train allies rattled by recent Russian aggression in the region. In addition, the U.S. will be moving more military hardware to the region, Obama said. “Under this effort, and with the support of Congress, the United States will preposition more equipment in Europe,” Obama said during a news conference in Warsaw, Poland. The “European Reassurance Initiative” calls for an intensified rotational mission in Eastern Europe, where the U.S. has already stepped up the presence of warships in the Black Sea as well as fighters and other aircraft over the Baltic states and ground troops
throughout the region. The initiative, which requires congressional approval, also calls for more security cooperation with non-NATO allies such as Georgia and Moldova, two countries that have been at odds with Moscow. Poland, which has been in the forefront of those nations calling for a more robust response to Russia, is likely to welcome Obama’s request for additional defense funding. But not all of its partners share Warsaw’s sense of urgency when it comes to Russia, and most have been slashing their defense spending rather than boosting it. Prepositioning more equipment in Europe could be a precursor to a plan to ramp up the readiness of NATO’s Response Force, which includes troops from a Texas-based Army brigade and thousands of troops from other member states. SEE PLAN ON PAGE 6
‘Under this
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’
President Barack Obama
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EUROPE FROM PAGE 4
Top U.S. and NATO military commander Gen. Philip Breedlove has stated that the force should be transformed to meet current threats, but that “readiness isn’t free.” So far, the force has been used mainly for training events, but Breedlove has emphasized the need to bolster the unit’s ability to mobilize on short notice. At the same time, the U.S. continues to analyze its force structure in Europe. “In addition to this initiative, we are reviewing our force presence in Europe in light of the new security challenges on the continent,” the White House stated. “These efforts will not come at the expense of other defense priorities, such as our commitment to the Asia Pacific rebalance.” For the Pentagon, the challenge is balancing competing needs at a time of limited resources. While the U.S. wants to reassure allies, it also is working on a plan to close and consolidate more bases in Europe. Those plans continue to move forward in seeming contradiction to efforts aimed
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at reassuring allies. By beefing up the rotational presence and increasing exercises, the U.S. could be seeking a way to make up the difference. John Deni, a professor at the U.S. Army War College, said more rotational forces could boost readiness and the military’s ability to partner with allies, but that such a program will be efficient only if rotations are over a long duration. “We do need to be more responsive. So how do you do that in a more cost effective way? It’s not cost-effective to move families [over to Europe],” Deni said. “Deploying rotational forces can be, but it needs to be over 11 or 12 months to avoid enormous transportation costs.” What isn’t yet clear is how much other nations will be willing to spend to ensure allies are able to more rapidly respond to crises. “Everyone has the capacity to do their fair share, to do a proportional amount to make sure we have the resources, the planning, the integration, the training in order to be effective,” Obama said. A long-term plan to ramp up NATO’s military readiness is underway, but political
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•
Friday, June 6, 2014
at least on a rotational basis, as evidenced by Obama’s plan to seek $1 billion from Congress. Rasmussen credited the U.S. with taking a lead in ongoing efforts to reassure allies in the east through a series of exercises in the Baltics and Poland. “The U.S. has reacted swiftly after Russia’s illegal military actions in Ukraine. And I appreciate that other allies have followed,” Rasmussen said. Meanwhile, Rasmussen also condemned Tuesday’s presidential election in Syria, which he characterized as a farce that
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“doesn’t fulfill international standards for free, fair, transparent elections.” “I’m sure no ally will recognize the outcome of these so-called elections,” Rasmussen said. Anti-missile Patriot batteries from three NATO member states continue to operate in southern Turkey to protect Turkish airspace from any potential incursion from Syria. The U.S., Netherlands and Germany have been contributors to the mission. vandiver.john@stripes.com
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VA SCANDAL
Who will be the next leader of the VA? Search should look beyond former military, experts say BY JENNIFER HLAD Stars and Stripes
President Barack Obama may want to look beyond the military community for someone with solid management experience to fix the Department of Veterans Affairs after retired Gen. Eric Shinseki resigned as head of the troubled department. Shinseki, a decorated Vietnam veteran and former Army chief of staff, stepped down May 30 after a preliminary investigation confirmed reports of widespread mismanagement and delays in scheduling appointments The for veterans in VA hospitals. next VA During its secretary investigation, the VA Inspector should be office familiar with General’s discovered that the culture 1,700 veterans — 54 percent of the VA, — seeking but that primary care in Phoenix were not does not added to official mean that electronic waiting he or she lists until shortly needs to be before they could be seen by media veteran, cal staff. It also found that 84 perlet alone cent of veterans a retired surveyed waited general or on average 115 days for their first admiral. primary care apPhillip Carter pointment — far Center for a New longer than the American Security 14 days required by a recently enacted VA rule, which was meant to improve access to care and reduce wait times. The probe revealed that the deceptive scheduling practice was occurring at other VA facilities across the country. Obama praised Shinseki but said the VA “needs new leadership” to address the mounting claims of malfeasance that allowed executives to cash in on bonuses even as veterans with serious health issues languished on secret waiting lists.
Even before Eric Shinseki’s resignation as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the whisper campaigns had begun: Who would be his successor? Here are some names that have been floated: The former defense secretary would seem like a great fit since he ran the biggest Cabinet department during two administrations. But Gates may have burned his bridges in his memoir ‘Duty,” in which he skewered Congress as an “incompetent” and “egotistical” institution. “Uncivil, incompetent in fulfilling basic constitutional responsibilities (such as timely appropriations), micromanagerial, parochial, hypocritical, egotistical, thin-skinned, often putting self (and re-election) before country — this was my view of the majority of the United States Congress,” he wrote. On President Barack Obama’s leadership and his commitment to the Afghan War, Gates wrote that by early 2010 he had concluded the president “doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.”
ROBERT GATES
JAMES MATTIS
The retired Marine general would be professional, but there’s no telling what he might say. Mattis retired last year after 41 years in the Marine Corps. He led Marines in Afghanistan and in Iraq, taking of helm at U.S. Central Command from 2010 to 2013. To say that he would have the immediate respect of veterans would be an understatement. But he says what he wants to say, like this, from 2005: “You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.” Given the new powers being discussed in Congress that would free the incoming secretary from bureaucratic restraints when firing executives, Mattis sure would get people’s attention. Another former four-star general, McChrystal was a special operator who rose to command all Western forces in Afghanistan. But how is a Type-A guy who is used to surrounding himself with other Type-A people going to cope with a bureaucracy, especially one as arthritic as the VA? McChrystal also had his run-ins with the White House. He and his staff were profiled in Rolling Stone magazine in 2010. The story, in which McChrystal’s aides openly criticized Vice President Joe Biden and other top officials, led to his resignation. That article was written by the late Michael Hastings, who also wrote “The Operators,” a military drama said to take a “peel-back-the-curtain” look at U.S. operations in Afghanistan. He would then of course be the first VA secretary to be portrayed on film by Brad Pitt in an upcoming movie based on that book.
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STANLEY McCRYSTAL
JIM WEBB
James Henry “Jim” Webb Jr. is a Naval Academy graduate and a former secretary of the Navy. He was a Marine Corps infantry officer until 1972 and is a highly decorated Vietnam War combat veteran. He is a graduate of Georgetown Law School. From 1977 to 1981, Webb worked on the staff of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. During this time, he also represented veterans free of charge. He is also a former U.S. senator from Virginia, whose first legislative act was to introduce a bill, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act, to expand benefits for military families. Credentials established. He is not afraid to brawl — in 2004, Webb wrote an op-ed piece for USA Today in which he, as a veteran, evaluated the candidacies of John Kerry and George W. Bush. He criticized Kerry for his opposition to the Vietnam War, and accused Bush of using his father’s connections to avoid service in Vietnam. Webb also wrote that Bush had “committed the greatest strategic blunder in modern memory” with the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He is rumored to be mulling a presidential run in 2016. One must wonder whether someone considering the highest office in the land would be able to devote enough attention to fix the VA’s many problems.
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TAMMY DUCKWORTH
RAYMOND ODIERNO
A service-disabled female veteran who’s a Democrat? Longer shots have existed. Duckworth lost her right leg near the hip and her left leg below the knee in 2004 when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Iraqi insurgents. She helped establish the Intrepid Foundation and is involved in its fundraising to build a rehabilitation center for other injured veterans. The Senate confirmed her as assistant secretary of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Department of Veterans Affairs in April 2009, a position she held until June 2011 when she resigned to run successfully for the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois’ 8th Congressional District. She is another potential successor who can brawl. In another YouTube hit, this one from 2013, she tore into a federal contractor who was claiming disabled status because he twisted his ankle playing football for a military prep school 40 years before. He didn’t come out well in the exchange.
Gen. Ray Odierno is the current U.S. Army chief of staff. He is a West Point grad who has commanded soldiers around the globe, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s also a guy who understands war wounds and disabilities. His son Tony is a combat veteran who reached the rank of captain before leaving the Army after losing his left arm in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Iraq. Odierno also has gone toe-to-toe with Congress. Odierno and Army Secretary John McHugh were defending the service’s 2014 budget proposal at an April hearing when Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and a major in the Marine Corps Reserve, questioned them about the service’s Distributed Common Ground System. The testy exchange went viral on YouTube, with each accusing the other of not letting him speak. Would Odierno take off his uniform and put on a suit to take care of America’s veteran community? He has spoken passionately about post-traumatic stress, about sexual assault and about suicide. Could be. — Pat Dickson
JIM CROCKETT
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About 1,700 veterans in need of care were “at risk of being lost or forgotten” after being kept off the official waiting list at the Phoenix veterans hospital, the Veterans Affairs watchdog said last week. “The next VA secretary should be familiar with the culture of the VA, but that does not mean that he or she needs to be a veteran, let alone a retired general or admiral,” Carter said. With a department employing more than 312,000 people and a budget of more than $150 billion, any VA secretary must be “very politically astute… capable of balancing competing interests and priorities,” Carter said. John Raughter, spokesman for the American Legion, said the key is to find a reformer, “someone who will make monumental changes to the structure of how the VA is operating now, someone who will hold the administrators accountable if they abuse their customers." He also said the new secretary must change the "culture of fear" that seems to have kept many employees from reporting problems. “It’s going to take a reformminded individual,” Raughter said.
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In a written statement, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America urged Obama to choose a new secretary who would make “bold changes and work quickly and aggressively to change the VA system." The organization also called on the president to look for a veteran of the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. Dr. Sam Foote, a retired VA doctor who helped expose scheduling abuses in the Phoenix VA, said someone with considerable administrative experience would be ideal, though a top-level hospital administrator would likely have to accept a significant pay cut to take the job. Ex-military commanders would face culture shock, Foote said. They are accustomed to working with trained subordinates who follow orders — habits less widespread in the VA culture, Foote said. “Superman would be good, if he’s available,” Foote said. hlad.jennifer@stripes.com Twitter: @jhlad
This publication is a compilation of stories from Stars and Stripes, the editorially independent newspaper authorized by the Department of Defense for members of the military community. The contents of Stars and Stripes are unofficial, and are not to be considered as the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, including the Defense Department or the military services. The U.S. Edition of Stars and Stripes is published jointly by Stars and Stripes and this newspaper. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the DOD or Stars and Stripes of the products or services advertised. Products or services advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use, or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation, or any other nonmerit factor of the purchaser, user, or patron.
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Friday, June 6, 2014
Reminders of conflict remain at Normandy
VA SCANDAL The search for that new leadership should be “less about having someone with a military background and more about someone with a management background,” said Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the CATO Institute. Tanner said many retired generals move from the Pentagon to the VA but “we’re not talking about combat or an army. We’re talking about bureaucracy.” Tanner said veterans can identify with other veterans, but “they’re not dealing with the veterans, ultimately.” “They’re dealing with a lot of people who aren’t impressed by how many stars the guy wore,” he said, adding that a better candidate might be someone with solid business credentials, “ideally someone who’s helped turn around a company.” Shinseki himself alluded to the problem just before his resignation was announced. In a speech to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, Shinseki said he had initially thought the delays in scheduling appointments for veterans were isolated cases. Now, he thinks such delays are systemic and that he was misled by other managers within the VA system. “I can’t explain the lack of integrity among some of the leaders of our health care facilities,” he said. “This is something I rarely encountered during 38 years in uniform.” Phillip Carter, a former Army officer and current director of the military, veterans and society program at the Center for a New American Security, said Obama should “cast a wide net” as he searches for someone capable of repairing the damage.
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The place was quiet, beautiAmerican bombardment of ful and nearly deserted. A German defenses. Now grass middle-age couple farther grows inside the craters, and up the beach soaked up the the feet of many visitors have sun, while our family tried to worn paths in and all around absorb the significance. My them. children wandered quietly, one On our trip, we stayed in looking at seashells, one drawthe village of Arromanche ing in the sand with a stick, overlooking Gold Beach, where another taking pictures. I was British forces came ashore on surprised by the peacefulness, D-Day. Canadian forces landed the blue sky and even bluer farther east at Juno, and more water lapping at the shore of British at the easternmost, Normandy. Sword Beach. I’m not sure what I expected These days, the waterfront from Omaha Beach so many promenade at Arromanche is decades after D-Day, but it festive with French flags wavwasn’t serenity. My ideas about ing alongside American flags this strip of coastline had been and Union Jacks. A carousel, dominated by black and white ice cream shops and tourists film recorded 70 years ago. mingle with WWII museums, Choppy seas, rain and low static displays of tanks and clouds added to the gloom of weapons. SPOUSE CALLS Down on photos from June 6, 1944, the day Allied forces landed and Gold Beach, began the liberation of Europe children from Adolf Hitler’s forces. kick soccer Those pictures showed the balls among beach crawling with troops, remnants of blasted by shells, marred by war, huge large barriers and crisscrossed structures, with concertina wire. When which lay our family went to Normandy like beached in 2011, I didn’t expect soldiers metal whales Terri Barnes and mortar fire, but for some at low tide. reason I also Farther didn’t expect More on the D-Day anniversary at out, a row of stripes.com/normandy such calm. dark hulks On the rise from the sunny stretch water and of Omaha where we stood, pleasure boats drift among them. there were few signs of the These are remnants of ships stormy battle waged there. and caissons that were scuttled Farther west at Saint-Laurentas a breakwater to protect an sur-Mer, out of sight to us that artificial harbor now gone. The day, a silver sculpture rises harbor was built to facilitate from the sand. It’s called “Les a supply line for Allied troops Braves,” created by a French who, after breaking through sculptor to commemorate the German defenses, continued 60th anniversary of D-Day. their inland march. Other older monuments stand Reminders of the conabove the beach. flict are everywhere, as are The landing beaches for the reminders of the cost. We visinvasion, code named “Operaited the Normandy American tion Overlord,” were named Cemetery and Memorial just — from west to east — Utah, above Omaha Beach and also Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. Omaha was the widest swath a German cemetery nearby. In at about five miles, and was the one day we walked among the grave markers of thousands site of the deadliest battle on who died — in one day. D-Day. As we walked across We went to Normandy to the now-peaceful sand, we see the place of a great battle, remembered the thousands of to pay respect to those who troops who gave their lives to fought. We saw the evidence of win this beachhead and others war, and we saw the evidence near it. of peace. Where brave men Between Omaha and Utah fought, children now play. Beach, where more American Peace prevails. It’s what we all forces landed, is Pointe du hope to find when war is over Hoc, a 100-foot cliff scaled by and for many years to come. U.S. Army Rangers during the invasion. At the top, we walked Terri Barnes writes Spouse Calls among giant craters left by weekly for Stars and Stripes.
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