A pair of Georgia lawmakers congregated in Normandy Thursday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson and Congressman Barry Loudermilk attended a ceremony at the American Cemetery near Colleville-sur-Mer, France marking the event with World War II veterans and dignitaries from the U.S. and Europe. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi were also on hand for the ceremony, which included a reenactment of the Allies’ airborne landings.
Isakson led a bipartisan group of senators who flew from Washington to France on Wednesday afternoon.
“As chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the anniversary of D-Day is personal for me, and it reminds me of the cost of freedom,” he said in a statement. “I can think of no better way to honor our World War II veterans than to be with them for this milestone occasion.”
Isakson’s office said the three-term Republican will spend several additional days in France meeting with officials from the U.S. embassy, American military and French government.
The visit to Normandy was a personal one for Loudermilk, who was one of more than 50 House members to make the transatlantic journey.
The Cassville Republican’s late father was an Army medic who was part of the second wave of American troops that arrived on the beaches of Normandy during D-Day.
“It’s going to mean the world to me, my brother and my sister to honor his memory and also those thousands who gave their lives for freedom,” Loudermilk said in an interview Wednesday.
His father always wanted to return to return to France but couldn’t retrace his steps because of health problems.
“It kind of feels like being able to do something for him that he wasn’t able to do,” said Loudermilk, himself an Air Force veteran.
Loudermilk’s House colleague Buddy Carter made the pilgrimage to Normandy last week during a separate congressional trip. He called his visit “one of the most special days of my life.”
“Walking through the Normandy-American Cemetery, you are quickly reminded of how many Americans, and Georgians, lost their lives that fateful day,” the Pooler Republican said. “These brave Americans gave everything for our nation and our world.”
Read more of the AJC’s D-Day coverage:
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