For Fifth Year, Delta Plans Normandy Flight to Preserve Veterans’ Legacies of Heroism

Delta Air Lines Inc. is set to fly World War II veterans to Normandy for the fifth straight year, continuing to invest in a program that has won accolades and generated goodwill in the U.S.-France relationship. 

The “Battlefield Return” program, run in partnership with Best Defense Foundation and sponsored by Michelin, sees American heroes, many of them now centenarians, feted in the French region where the D-Day landing turned the tide of the war and liberated France from Nazi control.

Some veterans participating in past trips hadn’t stepped foot on French soil since the war, and with their numbers dwindling, a chartered Delta jet from Atlanta to Normandy’s Deauville Airport is seen as the final chance for many to accept heartfelt gratitude, in person, from French citizens descended from those set free by American valor. 

The 2024 edition marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing, bringing heads of state from many allied nations to Normandy, where Dunwoody native Hilbert Margol received France’s Legion of Honor medal directly from President Emmanuel Macron, who greeted some 60 American veterans as they exited the plane.

Mr. Margol, now 102, was present at the Metro Atlanta Chamber Wednesday evening as the partners announced this year’s edition of the honor flight and a new program that engages students in the process of preserving legacy and building peace.

“Mr. Margol, you and your brothers in arms were witness to history. Your courage, and the incredibly brave choice you made as a young man when you enlisted, remind us that freedom is never guaranteed,” Consul General Anne-Laure Desjonqueres said in her opening remarks. 

In honor of soldiers like him, Normandy’s regional government created the Freedom Prize, which enables young people aged 15-25 to travel with the veterans to France.

Last year, Atlanta International School and Dutchtown High School, both in Georgia, sent 10 students; they’ll be joined this year by Tates Creek High School in Lexington, Ky., bringing the total to 12 from the Southeast U.S. 

“They will be able to interact with veterans. They will visit memorial sites and make sure that the memory is preserved and passed on with purpose and understanding,” said Ms. Desjonqueres, adding that they’ll join with 4,000 other youths from the around the world. 

That aligns well with Delta’s purpose in undertaking the flight, said Bob Somers, senior vice president for global sales at Delta Air Lines. 

“These journeys are not only about remembrance; they’re about passing history forward so that their sacrifice is never forgotten,” Mr. Somers said, praising Virginie Durr, a Normandy native leading enterprise sales at Delta, both for the idea and the dogged efforts to bring partners together to make the flights happen. Read more from Ms. Durr and Ms. Desjonqueres at a Macon event celebrating Delta’s 100th anniversary

The remarks were followed by a panel discussion featuring renowned war correspondent Patrick Chauvel, The Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander and Bertrand Deniaud, vice president for the Normandy region. 

Without stories, the panelists said, the lessons of history are at risk of being lost.

Mr. Deniaud pointed to the shared journeys of Atlanta and Normandy, both destroyed by war and dedicated to resurgence in its aftermath. Like Atlanta after the Civil War, Normandy built not only new cities and towns, but also a “new history.” 

“From the ruins, you can build a lovely cities and a lovely life and a lovely future for people: That’s what we’re trying to do,” Mr. Deniaud said, noting that many fail to seee how the effects of past conflicts linger to the present day. 

Mr. Chauvel recounted how war photographers are tasked with not only showing the brutality of war, but the resilience of humanity within it. 

In the age of continuous scrolling on social media, the arresting power of images has been diminished, especially as photos without solid reporting behind them have become subject to manipulation and misinterpretation, Mr. Chauvel said. 

He has seen his journalistic work become a dignifying outlet for those who, in conflict, seek to activate the world’s conscience. Understanding that impulse is hard for the students Mr. Chauvel finds himself addressing in lectures in the U.S. and other countries.

“I’ve tried to tell them, you’re so lucky to live in peace. You live in peace because people like you sacrifice their present for your future,” he said. “I try to remind them that peace is not natural. Peace is work, peace is education. Peace is watching each other, taking care of each other. War is natural.”

Just as Mr. Chauvel tells a story with his camera, Atlanta’s citizens are now scripting what type of world the next generation will inherit, Ms. Alexander said.

“We are telling a story, and we are living in a time that is now, but what is the future going to look like? And how active do we have to be to make sure our now days are as safe and secure as our children’s future days are going to be?” Ms. Alexander said. “I think that’s everyone’s responsibility, from a politician to a photographer to CEO to a parent.”

The conversation was moderated by Gail Grimmett, president and CEO of the Delta Flight Museum, who introduced the panel by sharing how disheartened she was when her 19-year-old cat-sitter asked her recently: What is D-Day?

The goal of the Delta flight is to ensure young people will know the answer — and why that moment was foundational to their freedom today.