Emily Lombi decided to put on a show about the life of her grandfather, an American soldier present during the Normandy landings. The first takes place this Wednesday, May 8, in Evigny in the Ardennes. She was the guest of France Bleu Champagne Ardenne
Commemorations will multiply this Wednesday in the Marne and the Ardennes. On the occasion of the celebrations of May 8, 1945, synonymous with victory against Nazi Germany and the end of the Second World War, France Bleu Champagne Ardenne returns to the story of an American soldier, present during the landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy. He then headed for the Ardennes, where he eventually settled and married. To pay tribute to him, Emily Lombi, his granddaughter, decided to put on a show “D-Day, I fear no evil because you are with me“. It is played for the first time this Wednesday in Evigny in the Ardennes. To talk about it, Emily Lombi was the guest, this Wednesday, of France Bleu Champagne-Ardenne.
What is your show about? Is this some sort of illustrated play?
Quite. My grandfather was the son of a Norwegian immigrant who came during World War II. And in fact, I told his story through archival work. I tried to reconstruct his itinerary since he didn’t tell us, so I tried to reconstruct this memory through photographs for example. In the show there are also testimonies from elderly people and archive images.
How did your grandfather, an American soldier, end up on Omaha Beach?
He enlisted during the war. He responded to the call made in the United States for soldiers and young people to come and defend Europe. And he said, I’m going too. He found himself catapulted like that. They did several training camps before and after. He waited in England to know the exact destination before coming to liberate France. Some took the road to the Ardennes. And there, my grandfather found himself in Charleville-Mézières, more precisely in Mons, and he met my grandmother who was a seamstress.
It must be a lot of emotion to see an actor embody your grandfather, another, your grandmother and this love story in the middle of the war?
Of course, it’s a lot of emotion but I have extraordinary trust because there you go, he knows, he met my family, he tried to be as close as possible to my grandfather, to understand his story, his way to think too. He was a strong and beautiful personality. These things happen quite naturally and for me it is obvious that it is this actor who plays my grandfather and it is with great pleasure that I give him this role.
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