CAEN, France, June 6 (UPI) -- European and North American leaders gathered on Normandy's beaches Sunday to pay tribute to those who had fought during the D-Day invasion 60 years ago, and to show solidarity after months of transatlantic division over Iraq.
"France will never forget what it owes America, its steadfast friend and ally," French President Jacques Chirac said during the main, international ceremony in Arromanches, Sunday afternoon.
"Today as yesterday," the French leader said, "we appreciate the deep commitment implicit in that ancient bond of friendship, shared values, trust and mutual respect."
As part of the last major D-Day ceremony gathering so many survivors, Chirac bestowed the French Legion of Honor medal to 14 veterans from allied countries, including to 84-year-old American Charles Hostler. Hostler was also one of 99 Americans veterans separately commemorated in Paris the previous day.
Arromanches counted among nearly a dozen high-level ceremonies gathering some 20 heads of state and governments in Normandy this weekend.
But dozens of small towns across the northwestern French region held their own barbeques, concerts, parachute drops and war reunions among aging Allied and German veterans to commemorate the Normandy invasion.
The three-day celebration, which ends Monday, amounts to a bitter-sweet celebration of transatlantic unity and courage shown during the June 6, 1944 invasion, in which thousands of soldiers died in a bid to liberate France and Europe from Nazi occupation.
It also marks the first time a German leader has been invited. And indeed, the presence of Chancellor Gerhard Shroeder offered telling evidence of how far Europe has changed.
"Today, 60 years ago, Caen and Normandy were the scene of endless suffering and tens of thousands of victims," Shroeder said in a speech Sunday afternoon. "But they were also the place of military courage to free Europe. France's memories of June 6, 1944 are different from Germany's. But they all end in a common conviction: We want peace."
Once occupier and occupied, Germany and France are now the closest of allies, united over the future of Europe as well as their opposition to the Iraq war.
Chirac and Schroeder have a good personal relationship, as well, underscored by the warm welcome the French leader gave his German counterpart Sunday.
Germany's conservative opposition criticized Shroeder of being unpatriotic, for skipping German cemeteries in favor of a "collective" memorial service.
"If he passes a German cemetery without leaving a wreath, he is an anti-patriot for me," CSU politician Peter Ramsauer told the Bild Zeitung.
Most of the controversy, however, has not centered on Shroeder but on U.S. President George W. Bush, who left France Sunday after a two-day visit.
Sunday morning, Bush and Chirac presided over a U.S.-French ceremony at the American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, to salute the U.S. troops who parachuted and waded to Normandy's shores over the night of June 5-6 in what was known as "Operation Overlord."
Under flawless skies, the two leaders emphasized their historic alliance, rather than their recent divisions over Iraq.
"History reminds us that France was America's first friend in the world," Bush said at the cemetery.
During a Saturday night press conference in Paris, Bush and Chirac also stressed areas of bilateral cooperation, from fighting terrorism and weapons proliferation to aiding Africa.
Chirac even offered the surprising statement that he and Bush "were completely on the same line" on Iraq.
Just moments later, however, the French president refused to completely endorse a United Nations draft resolution on Iraq, and offered a telling instance of silence when asked whether Iraq was better or worse off after the war.
"At least one point has been accomplished, that's that the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein is no longer here," Chirac finally said. "That is the positive point. The negative point is that disorder reigns."
A newspaper polls show that deep differences remain between ordinary Americans and French, who remain staunchly against last-year's U.S.-led war on Iraq, and appalled by the recent prisoner abuse scandal.
According to a survey published in Sunday's Le Journal du Dimanche, only 20 percent of French consider America a loyal ally. Just as strikingly, only 13 percent of Americans feel the same about France, according to a similar poll the French newspaper conducted in the United Sates.
Another, published in Le Figaro this weekend, found that French considered Germany and Britain more loyal allies than the United States.
"We will remember that on June 6, 2004, France and the United States met at the anniversary of a common history (three handshakes and little warmth)," Le Journal de Dimanche wrote in its editorial.
"What's left is repairing the damage in French public opinion" toward the United States, the newspaper added.
The damage was on display in Paris Saturday, where thousands marched to protest Bush's visit to France, and his policies in the Middle East.
"I'm here because Bush is in France," said 33-year-old Paris-area resident Mohammed Rosse, who was among the throng massed at Place de la Bastille Saturday, under sunny skies. "The 60th anniversary is one thing. But we're here to say no to all wars -- including the war in Iraq."
But in downtown Caen Sunday, where dozens of residents gathered to watch the heads of state arrive for lunch at the city's medieval chateau, 32-year-old Alain Certain said the American leader was welcome in Normandy.
"It's too bad about what's happened over there," Certain said of Iraq. "But this is a party. And Bush should be here, like everyone else."
