American veterans Bob Gibson and Norris Morvant, both 99 (100 years in September for the first) were the center of attention at the evening organized by the Normandy Region at the French Consulate in New York. Because in the United States, the soldiers of the Second World War are considered as real heroes, even if the main interested parties deny it. Bob Gibson recalls arriving at Utah Beach on June 6, 1994, and “the sound of guns.” Noises which sometimes, even today, prevent him from sleeping, even if he does not regret anything: “we had a job to do and we did it” he answers without hesitation, only asking the French to do everything so that the war – in Ukraine – does not spread.
© Radio France
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Phillip Thomas
But this evening was also intended to promote the eleven companies that the Region has brought with it. Some, the largest SMEs, are seeking to develop existing markets in the United States, others are looking for outlets. As to whether these trips abroad are useful, the President of the Region, Hervé Morin replies bluntly that yes, it costs money, “but when I see the feedback from business leaders who tell me they have more contacts in a day than they can have in several weeks, it’s because it’s useful, and they don’t say here to make me happy.”
“Americans have a passion for memory”
The Consul General of France in New York, Jérémie Robert, does not say the opposite: “France is very much Paris for Americans, but a few regions are doing well and this is the case of Normandy with the Landing beaches. Here, I regularly decorate veterans of the Legion of Honor and c is to each crazy a considerable emotion, the Americans have the passion of the memory.
