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It was in that state that he watched one of his favorite comfort films, the jazzy 1964 French musical “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” and suddenly, Oppenheimer had his wild eureka moment.

A plane from Channel Islands Air Search was sent to the scene from Guernsey, along with lifeboat crews from Alderney and France and the French helicopter crew based near Cherbourg.

France will honor the former soldiers at several ceremonies this year, including a commemoration with President Joe Biden in Cherbourg on June 7.

It also split the jury at the 1964 Cannes Film Festival, which compromised by awarding the Palm d’Or to “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.”

The battle began brewing when the Confederate ship, the CSS Alabama, was docked at Cherbourg Harbor hoping for some repairs.