This is the story of one remarkable woman, whose devotion to a generation of heroes transcended all boundries. Madame Si | dG1fNE1yeG5GUlhEblU
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00:00World War II.
00:04In the early morning hours of the Allied D-Day invasion, thousands of paratroopers from the
00:0982nd and 101st U.S. Airborne Divisions landed in the Normandy countryside and liberated
00:15the small town of St. Marigliese.
00:19The night of June the 5th, June 6, 1944, is probably one of the most indelible moments
00:27in American military history.
00:29Madame Simon-Renaud, her husband Alexander, the mayor of St. Marigliese, and their three
00:35young sons witnessed the triumph and tragedy of D-Day firsthand.
00:41We had front row seats on what happened there because we were living on the square.
00:49The Germans shot all the paratroopers who landed in the trees.
00:55They did not take any prisoners.
00:58St. Marigliese became the final resting place for thousands of soldiers killed in the battle.
01:04But they would not be forgotten.
01:07Madame Renaud took it upon herself to care for the graves of the boys who gave their
01:11lives so that her sons could grow up in peace.
01:16All her life changed entirely after the invasion.
01:24And then, letters from American families began to arrive.
01:28Within a couple of months after my father's death, my grandmother contacted Mayor Renaud
01:35and asked him,
01:37Is there anyone in your community that could possibly put some flowers on my son's grave?
01:43The mayor gave the letters to his wife.
01:46Madame Renaud, who spoke fluent English, reached out across the ocean to strangers in need.
01:53Dozens and dozens of people wrote to her.
01:56They responded immediately and sent her a picture of my father's grave with the flowers
02:01and with them there and with their son there, and that was a tremendous boost to my grandmother.
02:08When Life magazine published a photo of Madame Renaud tending to Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s
02:13grave, even more letters began to pour into the town.
02:17Madame Renaud answered every single one of them.
02:20She saw the boys laying outside on the church ground.
02:25In her heart, she knew what her mother was feeling when she got that telegram.
02:31It helped a great deal knowing that there's somebody there taking care of their son's
02:36grave.
02:37It's part of our heritage that we express our gratitude to the American people.
02:49Join us for a journey into the life of a woman whose heart knew no bounds.
02:54Madame Simone Renaud, the Mother of Normandy.