Having seen the struggles that preceded the freeing of La Haye du Puits, St. Lo, St. Malo, and several other mileposts in the American breakthrough from Normandy, YANK MAGAZINE correspondent Saul Levitt was among the first American troops to enter Paris. Regardless of the joy and gaiety that filled the French capital that day, his memories of all the spilled blood and assorted hardships experienced by the GIs in order to make that great occasion a reality stayed with him, and is reflected in the following portion of a dispatch he sent back to his offices.
"Despite all the bottles of champagne, all the tears, and all the kisses, it is impossible for those of us who are here to forget that we are here for the men of the American divisions who died or were wounded on the way to Paris... for all of those men who started out toward Paris but are not here to see it. We are here for the men of the 48 states who dream of home, and for whom the freeing of Paris is the way home."
Click here to read about the celebrations that took place in Paris the day World War One ended.
More primary source articles about W.W. II France can be read here...
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