Our last day and the earlier waves of emotion were to be revisited as we reached the small town of Epone near Paris, which was liberated by the 79th Infantry Division on Saturday August 19th 1944. Welcomed by John Hackett from the American Legion in Paris and in the company of the veterans' very great friend Gerard Bazin, the town opened its doors and its hearts in another moving ceremony of thanks. Citations were exchanged and Les Brantingham presented the town with its very own 'Stars & Stripes' flag that had flown over the Capitol in Washington DC on May 8th, the anniversary day of when the German surrender was signed in Rheims in 1945.

Moved by the weight of remembrance Gene Ranieri, son-in-law of Jerome Jatczak, stood up to offer a most moving speech, which came direct from the heart. With great dignity and strength he told us how he believed that the greatest fear the veterans had was that they would be forgotten. Having witnessed the tour at first hand these past 12 days he solemnly pledged, as both a parent and educator, that he would never allow his children or his grandchildren to ever forget what the veterans went through and how, if such a world crisis was to ever be repeated, that he would be proud to join forces with France in the cause of liberty.

It was simple, but incredibly moving and seemed to beautifully encapsulate the spirit of the entire trip for us, the younger generation.

Feeling somewhat overcome by such a spontaneous speech, a number of our party were then carried in some style in American Cadillacs and WW-II jeeps to a small act of remembrance at the town's cenotaph, before entraining to a marvelous lunch-time reception at which the local champagne and Normandy cider flowed freely and American-French relationships were strengthened in a heady air of bonhomie!

After lunch there was just one final important pilgrimage. A marvellous lineup of US Army jeeps and 6-wheeler trucks carried the veterans in convoy to the site of one of the 79th Division's greatest triumphs, the crossing of the River Seine. In August 1944, 14,000 men and vehicles made the water-borne crossing from Rosny sur Seine to Guernes to establish the bridgehead and begin the final push into the Reich.