States will start getting COVID-19 vaccine Monday, US says
Trucks will roll out Sunday morning as shipping companies UPS and FedEx begin delivering Pfizer’s vaccine to nearly 150 distribution centers across the states, said Army Gen. Gustave Perna of Operation Warp Speed, the Trump administration’s vaccine development program. Initially, about 3 million doses were expected to be shipped nationwide. Perna compared the vaccine distribution effort to D-Day, the U.S.-led military offensive that turned the tide in World War II. The vaccine was timed to arrive Monday so health workers could receive the shots and begin giving them, Perna said. The announcement came after revelations that the White House opted not to lock in an additional 100 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine for delivery in the second quarter of 2021.
UK honors war dead in scaled-back Remembrance Sunday service
(Joe Giddens/PA via AP)LONDON – In a scaled-back service, Queen Elizabeth II led tributes Sunday to those from the U.K. and the Commonwealth who perished in wartime, as most veterans paid their respects at home as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The 94-year-old monarch looked on from a balcony at a government building above the Cenotaph on Whitehall in central London on the 100th year anniversary of the memorial's installation following the conclusion of World War I. Following a two-minute silence at 11 a.m., Prince Charles laid a wreath on the queen's behalf during the Remembrance Sunday commemoration. Though the service was very different, people up and down the land took time out to honor the war dead. “We need to be conscious of those risks and that’s why remembrance matters,” he added.
The loneliest of D-Day remembrances is hit by pandemic
Due to coronavirus measures many ceremonies and memorials have been cancelled in the region with the exception of very small gatherings. I am very sad now," said Shay, who was a 19-year-old U.S. Army medic when he landed on Omaha Beach under horrific machine-gun fire and shells. It's a June 6th unlike any other," said Philippe Laillier, the mayor of Saint-Laurent-Sur-Mer, where he staged a small remembrance around the Omaha Beach monument. The pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, infecting 6.6 million people, killing over 391,000 and devastating economies. It poses a particular threat to the elderly like the surviving D-Day veterans who are in their late nineties or older.
One man lays wreaths in Normandy on this unusual D-Day
In this photo taken on Friday, June 5, 2020, British expatriate Steven Oldrid holds a poppy wreath as he stands on the site of the original WWII Pegasus Bridge in Benouville, Normandy, France. Due to coronavirus measures many relatives and veterans will not make this years 76th anniversary of D-Day. Oldrid will be bringing it to them virtually as he places wreaths and crosses for families and posts the moments on his facebook page. Laying wreaths though, seemed something special, reserved for families and close friends only. And from his previous work helping out families and friends of veterans, he knows something else is coming too.
On sad anniversary, few to mourn the D-Day dead in Normandy
In sharp contrast to the 75th anniversary of D-Day, this year's 76th will be one of the loneliest remembrances ever, as the coronavirus pandemic is keeping nearly everyone from traveling. It poses a particular threat to the elderly like the surviving D-Day veterans who are in their late nineties or older. All across the beaches of Normandy tens of thousands came from across the globe to pay their respects to the dead and laud the surviving soldiers. The acrid smell of wartime-era jeep exhaust fumes and the rumble of old tanks filled the air as parades of vintages vehicles went from village to village. Someday the COVID-19 pandemic, too, will pass, and people will turn out to remember both events that shook the world.
A not-so-traditional France vacation: All the reasons to visit the historical grounds of Normandy
Teach your children or grandchildren about these historical grounds where thousands of young men gave their lives for our freedom. How do you visit the beaches of Normandy the right way? Start your visit to Normandy at a few of the many museums around the region. Getty Images Tourists visit the Mulberry harbours at the beach at Arromanche in Normandy (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images). Getty Images Tourists visit the memorial sites at Utah Beach (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images) (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images).