Public Relations - In The News

D-Day documentary to premiere June 6 and 18 on Channel 10 News
Local World War II veterans are showcased, and the state's service members can get free tickets to the event.
By John Hill Journal Staff Writer

"They're living legends to the French. I wish it were a little bit more like that in this country." TIM GRAY, TV producer

WOONSOCKET -- Richard Fazzio said there was a time he never wanted to think about how he went ashore on the beach at Normandy on D-Day. He was in the fifth boat to unload troops on Omaha Beach. Most of them died within moments of the landing.
Fazzio was one of six D-Day veterans who went back to Normandy last month with Tim Gray, a television producer who is making a documentary about Rhode Islanders and their roles in the invasion. When he first got there, Fazzio said, he wept. Then he met the people.

"The French treated us like we were royalty," he said of the group. "You'd walk down the street and everyone, from kids to old ladies, were hugging and kissing us. They really appreciate it. They kept saying it, hugging and kissing us. If I never see another bottle of champagne ..."

Gray was astounded as well.
"It was like going over with Jon Bon Jovi," he said.

The visit produced about 22 hours of video that Gray is now whittling down to a 60-minute documentary that will be broadcast on Channel 10 (WJAR) on June 6 and 18 at 11 a.m.

Plans are for the Stadium premiere to include as many Rhode Island veterans in the audience as possible, said Frances Lanctot, one of the event's organizers. Veterans may get early -- and free -- tickets mailed to them by filling out a form that can be printed from Projo.com. Further information can be obtained by calling Eugene Peloquin at (401) 766-2129. The completed forms should be mailed to Peloquin and include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Tentatively called D-Day Plus 62 Years, Rhode Island Veterans Return to Normandy, Gray said the program is an effort to record the firsthand memories of the men who were there while they are still alive.
The U.S. audience might need to be told the story, Gray said. It was obvious, he said, that the French needed no such reminders of what those men did.
"They're living legends to the French," Gray said. "I wish it were a little bit more like that in this country."

When word got out that the six veterans -- Leo Heroux, of Central Falls; Richard Fazzio, of Woonsocket; Frank Chomka and Wilson Delasanta, of Cumberland; Chris Heisler, of Wakefield; and Phillip O'Connell, of West Warwick -- would be at some reception, the entire town would seem to show up.

When they were walking the beaches and the Allied Cemeteries, people would come up and spontaneously thank them, whether they could speak English or not.
"Groups of kids would run up to us and one of them would be able to speak English, and they'd ask, 'do you mind, can we ask you questions?' And we'd say 'yes,"' Fazzio said. "They'd ask about the invasion, what happened. It's nothing like in this country."
Gray and Fazzio said they were struck by the cemeteries, where French people from the surrounding towns tend to the graves.

"They're still putting flowers on the graves," Fazzio said. "It's hard to describe. It was wonderful."

"I wasn't crazy about going, because I didn't want to bring it all up," he added. "I broke down and cried when I got there. ... But now all I'll think about is the appreciation we got."