US Army

Blue Angel of Anzio.

Unknown private author.

Expatriate German actress and singer, Marlene Dietrich, entertains the troops at Anzio, 1944. A creature of post-WW1 German liberalism, Marlene was, not only a dedicated anti-Nazi, but also an extremely loyal and devoted naturalized US citizen - something that those in the States more fanatically opposed to inward migration might ponder. I may have recounted this before - but there is an amusing story (if such is possible) about Marlene's death. When she died in her Paris apartment (in which she had lived as a recluse for many years), her family was represented by an American nephew with a very poor grasp of French (like me). Word got around and, apart from the funeral director, the Mayor of the local district (arrondisment) and several of his officials arrived at the apartment to witness the departure (if not the passing) of their famous resident. The nephew was having serious difficulty in communicating with the funeral director and feared (perhaps unreasonably) that he was proposing to take the body from the apartment uncovered. He cast around for an appropriate French word for ... coffin ? casket ? shroud ...? Eventually he tried "shroud", but the only word he could come up with was "drapeau". Hearing this word, the local Mayor immediately reacted - "Drapeau ? Drapeau ? Ah, oui, monsieur", and rattled off instructions to one of the officials. The official left, and returned some time later with a large French tricolor - the "Drapeau Tricolor". Thus, Marlene left for the funeral parlor wrapped in the original European red, white and blue banner of Liberty. At her funeral service in the Church of the Madeleine some days later, she lay under another red, white and blue banner - the star-spangled one of her adopted country, the US. Two flags of Liberty - I am sure that she would have been pleased. Best regards, JR.