When news arrived that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth would travel to Normandy for D-day commemorations, some residents of the seaside village of Langrune-sur-Mer felt compelled to speak out. The afternoon ceremony was scheduled to take place there.
"We found it unbelievable that they could send someone who held views and values contrary to democracy, human rights, peace and Europe," said resident Chantal Richard. For her, the incongruity felt deeply personal. "We grew up going to D-day ceremonies, some of us had grandparents or parents whose lives were affected by this war."
This sentiment led Richard and about 40 other members of Langrune en Commun, a residents' association, to sign a 179-word statement. Published days before the 82nd anniversary of the D-day landings, it called for Hegseth's visit to be canceled.
"The honor of Langrune, that of France and the memory of the young allied soldiers – American, British and Canadian – who died on our beaches in the name of democracy demand that this individual's visit be cancelled," the statement read.
Few in the association, which fosters solidarity among residents and promotes environmentalism, expected much impact. Preparations were well underway to transform the village of about 2,000 people into the international host of the ceremony; flagpoles had been erected, the podium was in place, and over 400 high-ranking officials from around the globe were set to arrive.
For the association, the hope was to prompt reflection on the deeper meaning of the D-day anniversary, said member Julia Breen. "We celebrate it as a historical moment, but what does war mean today? What does it mean that we are safe but there are people being bombed right now?"
The short statement gained traction after Hegseth sparked global condemnation by using his D-day speech to criticize immigration. The villagers' protest went viral, with media worldwide noting their singular effort to stand up to the US defense secretary.
"It snowballed into something we honestly did not expect at all," said Richard. In the days since, the association's website received hundreds of emails from across the globe. "We've been getting messages, mostly from the US, from people saying: 'Thank you for speaking out, we support you,'" Richard added.
Some messages were particularly moving, such as one from a US veteran, said Breen. "He told us: 'I'm going to find a bottle of French wine and I'm going to toast to you because you're defending the values we fought for.'"
This was a reversal from the mixed reaction they initially received. At the time, some in the village, including elected officials, accused them of exaggerating about Hegseth and politicizing the wartime liberation of Europe, said Richard.
The concerns about the association were seemingly unfounded, Richard added. "The person who turned the commemoration into a major political issue wasn't Langrune en Commun but Pete Hegseth. He didn't come to celebrate freedom, democracy and peace, he came to push his far-right, anti-immigrant and warmongering rhetoric."
Hours before the ceremony in Langrune-sur-Mer was to take place, Hegseth spoke at the US military cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer. Against the stark backdrop of rows of white crosses, he told those gathered that Europe faced a different "invasion" of its shores.
"Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies," he said, in remarks that prompted a prominent historian to accuse him of "grotesque stupidity."
That was Hegseth's only public appearance of the day. He had earlier told organizers he would not attend the afternoon ceremony in Langrune-sur-Mer but did not provide a reason for his absence.
In Normandy, the Socialist party group in the regional council noted that it had only taken a few hours for the villagers to be proven right. It described the remarks as a "desecration" in a statement to newspaper Ouest France. "The men buried in Colleville did not die so that we could close off beaches; they died to liberate a continent from an ideology based on the hierarchy of human beings and racism. To distort their sacrifice into an argument for hatred is to betray their commitment."
In the US, Republican House member Michael McCaul described Hegseth's remarks as "inappropriate" in an interview with ABC News. "There's a time and a place for these issues of immigration. That was not the day, not the anniversary of D-day. I think out of respect to the veterans, and myself being the son of a D-day veteran, those remarks were out of place."
The criticism extended to Langrune-sur-Mer, where Breen described the remarks as "absurd, contradictory, nonsensical, and racist." For Richard, it was a sign that the association had been right to speak up, even if they were the only ones to do so.
"I think our statement helped people to come out from the woodwork," Richard said. "If it gave others the courage to speak up and say that they think the same, that they're not OK with the ideology of the Trump government, that's a good thing."
Breen echoed this sentiment, saying she was proud to be part of an association that emerged as a small "point of resistance" against those who used protocol as a reason to remain silent when faced with someone who "promotes rhetoric that is bellicose, racist, supremacist and imperialist."
She was quick to add that what they did in Langrune-sur-Mer was far from extreme. "It's crazy that resistance today is just about reminding the world of its values," she said. "And that doing so seems like a radical stance."
