SALUTE FOR MEN OF HONOR

Wreath ceremony on 75th ann’y of V-E Day

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on Friday greeted eight World War II veterans — the youngest of them age 96 — at a ceremony commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe.

The president and first lady placed a hand on a wreath at the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, before standing and saluting as a bugler played Taps.

Trump made no public remarks but spoke privately to each of the vets, some wearing medals and others uniforms, while practicing social distancing.

The Trumps then walked slowly through the memorial on a blustery, 65-degree day, pausing at points to read the inscriptions.

The veterans joining Trump included Gregory Melikian, 97, of Phoenix, who sent the coded message to the world that Germany had unconditionally surrendered.

Participants in the D-Day invasion that turned the tide in the war include Steven Melnikoff, 100, of Cockeysville, Md., Guy Whidden, 97, of Braddock Heights, Md., Harold Angle, 97, of Chambersburg, Pa.; and Frank Devita, 96, of

Bridgewater, NJ. Other veterans joining Trump were Donald Halverson, 97, of Minnesota, who fought in some of the war’s fiercest fighting in Italy, John Coates, 96, of Maryland, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and Jack Myers, 97, of Hagerstown, Md., who was part of a unit that liberated the Dachau concentration camp.

Timothy Davis, director of the Greatest Generations Foundation, which helps veterans return to the countries where they fought, said the US soldiers were originally slated to travel to Moscow for a commemoration event.

He said that with international travel out of the question during the pandemic, the veterans talked to him about trying to commemorate the day in Washington.

“Of course we presented to them the risk we are facing,” Davis said, referring to the coronavirus pandemic, which is particularly dangerous for the elderly.

“They said, ‘It doesn’t matter, Tim,’” he said.

Meanwhile, European leaders marked the anniversary of with similar low-key ceremonies, as much of the continent remains under coronavirus lockdown.

THANKS: President Trump and Melania attend a V-E Day event in DC with WWII vets Friday, as jets in London marked the anniversary with a flyover near a Winston Churchill statue (below).