Normandy Notes

Barry Stavro should receive an “E” for Excellence for the outstanding story on the Normandy D-day beaches (“Stormin’ Normandy,” March 13). He paints a most descriptive picture of the region. However, if you are going to Normandy, visit the Museum of Peace north of Caen--a world-class museum that tells one story of the beginnings of World War II.

CLIFF DEKTAR

North Hollywood

It was generous of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to accept blame “in case things went wrong.” Lest we forget: In the forward to “Great Battles and Their Great Generals,” Drew Middleton wrote, “The landing at Normandy at 1944 was a classic example of what the military call the ‘set piece battle.’ An attack on a known static position. Fortunately for the Allies, Field Marshall Montgomery, who commanded, excelled at that type of battle. After the war, both Gen. Eisenhower and Gen. Walter Bedell Smith, his chief of staff, told me that no one but Montgomery could have planned and won the battle.”

PETER CORSI

Hemet

How impressive to see the pictures, the maps, the article chronicling the Allied invasion at Normandy and photos of the countryside. How serene is the “Normandy American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.”

How unbelievably tasteless for L.A. Times editors to have such a feature commemorating the heroism of the 6th of June written by an author who proclaims that “I never wore a soldier’s uniform--one of my cherished mementos, in fact, is my student deferment card from the Vietnam era.”

What reverence, what respect is instilled in the reader to know that the piece was written by someone who cherishes his escape from citizens’s duty! Do you have any idea of the revulsion that fills a loyal patriot, a citizen with the courage to serve when called, a once-youthful male who valued respect and loyalty among his peers--and still does?

T. BRUCE GRAHAM

Retired Marine lieutenant colonel

Port Hueneme

Barry Stavro’s fascinating account was marred by the inaccurate photo caption that credited Winston Churchill for the floating artificial harbors.

According to “D-Day: From the Landing at Normandy to the Liberation of Paris,” edited by Bernard C. Nalty, the original plan for Mulberry was agreed to at the Quadrant conference in Quebec in 1943 and the design and construction of the piers and pontoons was carried out by several agencies and builders. Churchill may have had an idea or a wish for an artificial port structure, but he most certainly did not design it.

R.C. CZAPIEWSKI

N. Hollywood