In France, D-Day evokes both the joys of liberation and the pain of Normandy’s 20,000 civilian dead

CARENTAN-LES-MARAIS, France — Shortly after D-Day in 1944, the American soldiers heading out to more fighting against Adolf Hitler’s forces couldn’t help but notice the hungry French boy by the side of the road, hoping for handouts. “We are in danger everywhere.” NORMAN LOSSES ‘SWEPT UNDER THE CARPET’ FILE - British troops and vehicles passing inland through a village in Normandy linemen are busy laying down communication cables while British, Canadian and U.S. Armour passes them en route for the frontline, on June 13, 1944. Macron said Saint-Lo was “a necessary target” because Allied bombers were aiming to prevent German reinforcements from reaching the invasion beaches and described it as “a martyred town sacrificed to liberate France.” Those killed in Saint-Lo included Marguerite Lecarpentier’s older brother, Henri. Her mother waved a white handkerchief as they walked, “because the planes were constantly flying overhead” and “so we’d be recognized as civilians.” Still, Lecarpentier speaks without rancor of Allied bombing. “When one thinks that they landed on June 6 and that Saint-Lo was only liberated on July 18 and they lost enormous numbers of soldiers.” University of Caen historian Françoise Passera, co-author of “The Normans in the War: The Time of Trials, 1939-1945,” says Normandy’s civilian casualties were overshadowed for decades by the exploits of Allied soldiers in combat and their sacrifices.