Sunday August 15, the American veteran of the Normandy landings Tom Rice jumped in a parachute to celebrate his 100th birthday. A feat that the man had already achieved in 2019, to celebrate the 75th anniversary of D-Day. He was then 97 years old.
On June 6, 1944, Tom Rice, 22, was one of the 6,800 “boys” of the 101st US Airborne to jump in Normandy, above the Carentan marshes in the English Channel. 77 years later, to celebrate his hundredth birthday, the veteran leapt into the void again, this time over his hometown of Coronado, Calif. Indeed, due to the restrictions linked to the coronavirus pandemic, the centenary could not jump in Normandy as he wished.
On CNN footage you can hear the crowd cheering as Tom Rice makes it to dry land. On his arrival, the veteran had a thought for the inhabitants of Carentan: “I am really happy that we were able to pass through your properties and restoring life, restoring the law and in doing so, freedom“he said, according to West France.
For its part, the Norman city paid a fine tribute to the veteran for his birthday. After a ceremony, a large poster of Tom Rice was displayed on one of the facades of the Place de la République from Carentan. The photo, taken in 2018, will remain in place for a month, says actu.fr.
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