8 - Graignes in Historical Memory

Summary

“Graignes in Historical Memory,” explains why little was known about the meaning of Graignes for more than four decades. The villagers and the paratroopers pursued their own lives. Both groups were curious about the fate of the other, but contact between the veterans and the villagers was largely non-existent. Memorials were dedicated in Graignes. After the celebration of the fortieth anniversary of D-Day, however, the ordinary people who did extraordinary things began to reach out to one another. Veterans of Graignes, Colonel Frank Naughton and Lt. Colonel Earcle Reed, who had been career military officers, lobbied the Department of the Army to honor the civilians who had aided the paratroopers in 1944. In June 1986, in a grand ceremony, the Secretary of the Army awarded Distinguished Civilian Service Medals to eleven residents of Graignes. Since then, there have been numerous reunions between the villagers and their descendants and the paratroopers and their descendants.