U.S. D-Day Flag to Return Home 75 Years After Normandy Landing, Reports Reuters

By Anthony Deutsch

ROTTERDAM – A rare D-Day flag that flew on a U.S. Navy ship leading the allied invasion at Normandy will return to America after a display in the Netherlands.

The 48-star "Normandy" flag was used on the U.S. Navy’s LCC 60, one of three advanced fleet vessels that directed troops onto Utah Beach in German-occupied France on June 6, 1944.

Lieutenant Howard Vander Beek, who commanded the vessel, kept the flag throughout the war and stored it in his basement until his passing in 2014. His family auctioned it two years later, and it was purchased by Dutch collector Bert Kreuk for $514,000.

"It was shot at by German machine gun bullets and torn by the wind," Kreuk explained. "The flag will be going home." Kreuk, who spent 20 years running a business in the United States, intends to donate the flag to the American people and hopes that former President Donald Trump will come to the Netherlands to collect it.

As the tattered flag, stained by diesel fumes and dirt, arrived at Rotterdam’s Kunsthal museum in a military convoy led by a U.S. Sherman tank, dozens of U.S. and Dutch soldiers stood at attention. The orchestra played "Fanfare for the Common Man," composed by Aaron Copland in 1942, as soldiers placed the flag into its display case.

Piet Hoekstra, the U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, mentioned that he has been in discussions about the flag with high-level U.S. officials, including the Secretary of State. "We are ensuring that the White House is aware of this opportunity," Hoekstra said. "Vander Beek carried it in his backpack across significant parts of Europe until the end of the war. While many flags are special, this one is perhaps a bit more unique."

The flag will be showcased in Rotterdam until February 17.