D-Day in Conneaut: Aug. 15 - 17

Photo credit: Pittsburgh Gazette

Bob Batz at the Pittsburgh Gazette has the announcement:

The Allies once again will storm the beaches at Normandy,
but on Lake Erie, at D-Day Conneaut

This year is not only the 75th anniversary of D-Day but also the 20th anniversary of its biggest re-enactment, happening just over the Ohio border. A lot of Pittsburghers and Western Pennsylvanians will be part of it. 

In 1999, a small group of history buffs re-created a bit of the epic World War II battle at Conneaut Township Park in this community — on Lake Erie between Cleveland and Erie, Pa. — because the bluffs-backed beach was reminiscent of Omaha Beach at Normandy, France, that the Allies assaulted in 1944. 

The first re-enactment wasn’t meant for the public, but some park visitors witnessed it and were enthralled. So the re-enactors kept at it each summer and wound up incorporating in 2007, and proceeded to make nonprofit D-Day Conneaut not only public but also the country’s largest and most historically accurate WWII living history event.

It drew 45,000 spectators over two days last year, and this year’s  — Aug. 15 to 17 — looks to be only bigger, in that they’re starting on Thursday and growing the re-enactors to about 1,700 for this double anniversary.

Details and map are here.

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