An American military cemetery overlooking the Normandy beaches was desecrated last night by vandals who smeared anti-Semitic graffiti on gravestones and on a monument engraved with the names of 9,836 American soldiers who died during the Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944. About 100 of them were Jews.
The cemetery, facing Omaha Beach, was visited by President Reagan last June during the Allied commemoration of the 40th anniversary of "D-Day". The desecrations are believed to have been motivated by the world-wide protests against Reagan’s visit to the German military cemetery at Bitburg Sunday.
Cemetery staff members who went to the war monument to raise the flag this morning found it covered with slogans in thick black ink, such as "Reagan Equals a Jew", "Zionists are Nazis" and, the largest of all, "Reagan Don’t Give in to the Jews." Several of the daubings were signed "PLO."
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