WEBVTT

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Uh My name is Neil Rissler . I'm Jack

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Russell's son . I'm here because of the

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uh Union two mission on August 1st

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1944 . I've never been in the armed

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services . Uh , but I learned a lot

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from my father . Uh Not necessarily

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about the services but about life in

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general . Uh We are in the cul de Seis .

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Uh It is the location where the actual

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airdrop took place on January August

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1st 1944 . Uh It

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is the place where they have the

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celebration annual cel uh the decade

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wide celebration of the uh Union

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two commencement for what I know Union

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Two was a covert

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operation . The operation , as I

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understand it was to drop arms

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and train the local resistance

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fighters in warfare . I believe it was

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partly done this way because of the

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operation that was to take place on the

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15th of August where the allied

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troops stormed the beaches in southern

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France . The ID behind it was

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to preclude Germans from bringing

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reinforcements from Italy using the

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resistance fighters to stop or slow

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down any kind of enemy action . Well ,

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I think a lot of the , the significance

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that he had was just his and the others

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presence here . They showed the

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resistance fighters that we cared that

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we are here and we're going to help

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them get free , but also train them to

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do things themselves , not depend on

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somebody else . And I think that was

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one of the big takeaways . It was an

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unchaining of the resistance , in my

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opinion . Uh My experience here has

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been extraordinary . Uh I have

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met with people , old friends , I've

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met with new , made new friends . It

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has been a chance to really see and

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understand the French people in this

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area . I'm honored by the respect and

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the honor we're given as descendants of

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the people who are actually doing the

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operation . Uh The , the friendship

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they have extolled the , the

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camaraderie , the , the gifts , the

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many things that they give us because

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we are descendants of the people who

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came here before and helped them . Uh

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It has been fantastic from that

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standpoint . It's also a chance to see

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things we hadn't seen before and it

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gives us a chance to meet with . As I

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said , new friends , understand them .

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Get another generation , hopefully

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understanding what their ancestors did

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to prevent fascism in the s in the

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area . My father , I , I , he was my

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dad , obviously and I loved him

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intensely . He always had a great sense

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of humor . Uh When I was growing up , I

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didn't learn a lot of what he did in

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the war until I read some of the

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articles that were published and

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actually came to some of the gatherings

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where they had veterans and had people

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from the French resistance . I also

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got to know him a lot when he was

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involved in the , the

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celebrations that happen every 10 years

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from the 50th year on um my

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mother and he came in 19 8 in 19

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7 , 84 . And um

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they had a fantastic time and I saw the

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pictures and asked a lot of questions

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and read some of the articles in 1994 .

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I was able to come with my brother and

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my father here and we really got to

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understand magnitude and celebration

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and , and the kindness of the French

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people and the , the overwhelming

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outpouring from all people , whether

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they were the marines that were here or

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whether it was the French Legion that

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was here or it was the populace that

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was here . The Children even made

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an impression on me in 19 , in

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2024 2020 in

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2004 . Uh , we again came , but this

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time we came with my wife , my dad and

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myself . Uh that one was a

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key one because I , I did get to know

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some of the people here a lot better

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and I got to know my dad a lot better

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because I got to see how the people

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really enjoyed him and enjoyed what he

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had to say . And I believe they loved

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him . For who he was . Um , he was a

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normal dad . He worked hard , his

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dedication . He , he took a lot of time

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and effort in doing things . His ,

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his ability to make people laugh , tell

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jokes and keep them interested in

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him through jokes . He was never the

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center of , of concern . He was always

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in the back area , not necessarily up

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front , but he did a lot from that

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vantage point . Well , I would say

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that this celebration has been

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something of an eye opener because I've

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become more involved in it as , as a

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little living relative of my dad . Uh

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I get to see the work they put into

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having the celebration uh the time and

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effort they place and , and the

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magnitude of what it means in this area .

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Uh I also have had through numerous

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celebrations . The chance to really get

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to understand the bond

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between peoples , through friendship or

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through service . Um One of

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the big takeaways I had was in

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1994 in cul de Sese uh

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in Cent in Cent , they

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had the reeds gathered and

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it was in the uh village hall

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building . It was a warm day , it was

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very hot and the marines sat and

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listened to my dad and John Bodner as

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they answered about the , the mission

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they were on and they took questions

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from the marines . Uh The marines

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themselves were a generation or two

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away from my father's generation yet

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they're interested in what he had to

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say and what Bodner had to say , they

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were wrapped with intention , uh ,

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attention , looking and listening to

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what they said . They asked questions

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that were very , very thoughtful and

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very , very thought provoking . They

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really took an interest in it and any

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worries I had about the fugitive

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generation was sort of dissuaded by

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that because if that is the Marine

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Corps coming up , we're in good hands .