
Roché was a 20-year-old sergeant stationed in the southern German town of Constance when the war ended. Asked about his memories of V-E Day, Roche kept it simple: "The war was over. I was just happy to be able to get out of there."
Veterans and civilians will reminisce about V-E Day, a holiday here in France, with events around the country.
In Reims, a city of 180,000 about 80 miles east of Paris, U.S. Ambassador to France Jane Hartley is scheduled to make an appearance. This is where German Gen. Gustav Jodl signed the unconditional surrender on May 7, 1945 — the eve of the victory announcement — in a red-brick schoolhouse that U.S. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower called his headquarters.