Men died so they could celebrate –
Frenchmen dance and sing first time in five years
Yank band plays, Allied soldiers join Cherbourg in Bastille Day events
By William R. Higginbotham, United Press staff writer
Cherbourg, France –
For the first time in five long years, people danced in the streets of Cherbourg last night.
It was Bastille Day – the French day of independence – and was held in the Place de la Republique, next to the harbor where, less than three weeks ago, men died in battle so that these people could dance and sing.
U.S. soldiers, nurses and officers, British troops and French sailors who helped to liberate this historic city danced along with the French people.
While a band played, first serious tones and then American jazz, the French people looked on in almost disbelief. It had been a long time since they had witnessed such a scene.
The crowd was hushed as the band, led by Pvt. Lou Saunders of Butler, Pennsylvania, began playing. After a few serious numbers, Pvt. Saunders broke the band down to nine pieces and opened up with their theme “Time on My Hands.”
Serious faces among the crowd began to melt a little and there was scattered laughter when Frenchmen asked people to dance. Finally, the tension broke and the crowd formed a little circle as an American captain, Perry Miller, who used to teach English literature at Harvard, pushed back his helmet liner and started dancing with a tall Normandy blond.
Then the band broke into “I Go for You.” A French sailor with kinky hair and a bronze face danced alone; two Negro G.I.’s swung together; young French girls wearing the tricolor in their hair tried to step to the unfamiliar swing.
Guitarist Sgt. James R. Wilson of Lafayette, Indiana, brought the people stomping and cheering, and he stepped to the microphone and in the best hillbilly style sang of the “Hills of West Virginia.”
As the festivities ended, the band reformed in full and played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and the “Marseillaise.” A hush fell over the crowd. Men in battledress came to attention. The people stood and listened.