France honors African veterans of World War II landings

French President Emmanuel Macron, second left, Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara and Guinean President Alpha Conde, left, attend a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the WWII Allied landings in Provence, in Saint-Raphael, southern France. (AP Photo)

Patrouille de France jets perform as they trail smoke in the colors of the French national flag during a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the WWII Allied landings in Provence, in Saint-Raphael, southern France. (AP Photo)

French President Emmanuel Macron talks to a veteran during a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the WWII Allied landings in Provence, in Saint-Raphael, southern France. (AP Photo)

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with a member of the Souvenir Francais during a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the WWII Allied landings in Provence, in Saint-Raphael, southern France. (AP Photo)

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with a soldier during a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the WWII Allied landings in Provence, in Saint-Raphael, southern France. (AP Photo)

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy leaves a ceremony, in Saint-Raphael, southern France, celebrating US and African veterans as well as French resistance fighters who took part in crucial but often-overlooked World War II landings on the French Riviera. (AP Photo)

French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with a veteran during a ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of the WWII Allied landings in Provence, in Saint-Raphael, southern France. (AP Photo)

• Hundreds of thousands of primarily US and French troops landed on the French Riviera for Operation Dragoon
• Africans made up as much as half the French contingent, indigenous soldiers from what are now some two dozen independent countries

PARIS: It’s sometimes called “the forgotten D-Day,” the crucial but overshadowed Allied invasion of the French Riviera to push back the Nazis.
France held an elaborate military ceremony Thursday to remember it 75 years on — and especially, to honor the many soldiers from Africa sent from French colonies to take part.
“You gave back our country its freedom and dignity,” French President Emmanuel Macron told veterans from several countries at a necropolis in the French town of Saint-Raphael.
“You gave back our flag its colors and its motto to our people ... It’s our duty to preserve it, hand it down, to make it bear fruit against darkness and ignorance.”
Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara and Guinea President Alpha Conde also took part in the ceremony.
Starting Aug. 15, 1944, hundreds of thousands of primarily US and French troops landed on the Mediterranean coast for Operation Dragoon. It was intended to coincide with the D-Day invasion in Normandy in June but was delayed due to a lack of resources.
Africans made up as much as half the French contingent, indigenous soldiers from what are now some two dozen independent countries.
Operation Dragoon enabled the Allies to liberate most of southern France in only four weeks. Soldiers from the Normandy landings met troops from Operation Dragoon on Sept. 12 near Dijon, in the eastern region of Burgundy.
At Thursday’s ceremony, Macron urged French mayors to name streets after African soldiers, acknowledging that for decades they “didn’t have the glory and esteem that their bravery deserved.”
A military choir sang “The Song of the Africans,” while some veterans joined in. Fighter jets flew over the necropolis, trailing blue, white and red smoke to represent the French flag.
There is no definitive Allied death toll, but the French Defense Ministry says 1,300 Allied soldiers died in the operation’s first two days.