"The names 'Thomas and Dorothy' were carved in the bark of one trunk. Another said 'Bob and Carma'. Other trees were marked with soldiers' home states - Iowa, Maine or Alabama - and several bore hearts and the names or initials of a wife or girlfriend.

"The beech trees of Saint Pierre de Varengeville-Duclair forest bore a poignant testimony to the D-Day landings for more than six decades. Thousands of American soldiers stationed there after the liberation of Normandy spent their spare hours with a knife or bayonet creating a lasting reminder of their presence.

"Although the trees grew and the graffiti swelled and twisted, this most peculiar memory of one of the 20th century's defining moments remained visible - until now. Amid bureaucratic indifference and a dispute between officials and the forest owner, most of the trees have been felled, chopped up and turned into paper.

"The trees surrounded land in the heart of Saint Pierre de Varengeville-Duclair forest, near Rouen in Normandy, which was once home to a US army camp named after the Twenty Grand brand of cigarettes. It was one of nine cigarette camps - along with Pall Mall, Old Gold, Philip Morris, Chesterfield, Lucky Strike, Home Run, Wings and Herbert Tareyton - used by troops needing treatment or waiting to be sent elsewhere. They were places of calm between the D-Day landings and the Ardennes, the Siegfried Line or the Pacific.

"(The trees) - most of which stood along a small, winding road in the middle of the forest - were deemed unsafe by local officials. They ordered Patrice Robin, 79, who owns the land, to prune branches overhanging the road. 'I said no at first,' he said. 'But they threatened to take action against me.'" -- The (London) Times, posted on The Drudge Report

The article pointed out it would have cost the landowner about 400-euros more per tree to prune them as opposed to cutting them down. Efforts are underway to preserve the remaining trees as part of a nearby museum, according to the story.

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School news

"Teachers will be elected tomorrow for the Kennett school.

"School district clerks are reminded that they must file with the county clerk their enumeration lists, properly sworn to before someone authorized to administer oaths, by May 15. If they do not, their districts may be precluded from any part of the distribution of the public school fund. Ask your clerk if he has reported.

"Prof. Albert B. Sloan of Kennett was elected school commissioner of Dunklin County. He is not like our school commissioner -- a non-resident of the country three-fourths of the year." That was from the Cape Gazette and obviously a jab at the Cape County school commissioner.

With a tip of the hat to the DDD's unofficial, but much appreciated historian, Vivian Helton for the about blurbs excerpted from the May 7, 1987 edition of the double-D.

* * *

Just in time for Father's Day

I ran into several fellows celebrating Father's Day, dads all of them, last Friday. These three fellows has slipped out to play golf early, I guess it's a Father's Day Weekend for them.

Ralph Heman (he of stage fame), Ken Garland and Neal Bradley played 18 holes of golf before the heat set in and were enjoying an air-conditioned lunch.

Ken asked about my daughter and we exchanged pleasantries about families.

During this conversation I asked Neal how his baby was doing. Well, he just lit up and told me how wonderful his year-old daughter is doing. It sounded like she was almost perfect from the way dear ol' dad described her. I knew he meant that she was almost perfect because what Neal said exactly was, "She's just like her mother."

He mumbled something else, but I couldn't quite understand what it was. I'm sure he was still singing the praises of his wife and daughter but the hamburger kinda got in the way.

Steve Pu is going to celebrate Father's Day by having his son, Brett, come to town. Brett is off in Oxford, Ms., and working these days as a drug pusher. Wait, just kidding. He's working in a pharmacy.

Steve's daughter, affectionately known as "The Princess," sent her dad what looked like a can of snuff. I think Steve was a tad embarrassed and is trying to convince everyone his gift is some sort of fancy-smancy rub for flavoring meat. Those of us that saw the can are still a little suspicious.

We also note that "The Princess" and her husband, Chris, who have been exiled to Florida for almost are moving back to the Kansas City area as Chris continues his medical training. We concluded that they wouldn't need any help from dad. We came to that conclusion because dad only got one can of snuff, I mean meat-rub, and otherwise he probably would have gotten an entire case.

Bud Hunt is the publisher of the Daily Dunklin Democrat.