Students walk Juno Beach at today's D-Day commemoration

A group of 25 students from Lasalle and Confederation secondary schools are among those at Juno Beach in Normandy, France today as part of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

“It's going to be a very unique experience for the students,” said Kathy LeBreton, a history teacher at Lasalle, speaking to NorthernLife.ca over the phone from France.

“I think it's going to be a very moving experience.”

The June 6, 1944 landings began the invasion of German-occupied western Europe, led to the restoration of the French Republic and contributed to an Allied victory in the Second World War.

Also expected at the D-Day commemoration are Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip and Prince Charles, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, United States President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

One thousand Canadian students are expected to attend the ceremony, along with 100 Canadian Second World War veterans.

As part of their 10-day trip, the Lasalle and Confederation students also visited cemeteries and museums in Germany, Holland and France to learn more about the First World War and the Second World War.

This included a visit to Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Germany and Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam, Holland.

LeBreton said a lot of the students have told her they've learned more in the past week than they did in their entire Grade 10 history course. “It means so much more,” she said.

Accompanying the students is LeBreton's 88-year-old father, George Koivu. He's a veteran of the Second World War, although he never saw battle, as the war ended just as he was about to be shipped overseas.

George's brother, Jack Koivu, was killed in action in a plane crash during the war. The student group visited the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery in Germany where Jack is buried.

LeBreton said she thinks having a real-life veteran along with them makes these experiences a “bit more moving and emotional” for her students.

Megan Martel, a Grade 12 Confederation student, said the trip has been a “great opportunity” to learn more about the wars.

She said she's looking forward to the D-Day commemorations. “I think it will be amazing just to see all the people that are there to support it, and to see all the people from different parts of Canada going out to join the ceremonies.”