Our first day of visits are to St. Lo and St. Mere-Eglise. In St. Lo, we wandered around and looked at a few sites, but there isn’t much left in St.Lo. It is very evident that the town is different than all the towns we visited in Brittany. The buildings are on the newer side and not very attractive. During the invasion, the town was bombed by the US, shelled and attacked by both sides, leaving most of the town in ruins, including the cathedral. Battle scars are visible on all old buildings, especially the cathedral. In the center of town is a nice monument to the US forces that liberated the town.
After our quick visit to St. Lo, we headed up to St. Mere-Eglise, one of the towns where the whole invasion began. This was a main target for the US airborne forces which dropped in the wee hours of June 6th. Some of the forces missed their drop zone and landed in town, including paratrooper John Steele who landed on the church steeple and was stuck there for a number of hours. There is a wonderful museum in town dedicated to the US Airborne forces and details their activities during the invasion. This gives us our first insight into the magnitude of the invasion and a feeling for how amazing it was that the Allies were successful with this impossible task.
Day two of our Normandy visits took us to Caen and a fantastic museum that told about World War II leading up to the invasion and then focused on the invasion and the details about each of the beaches. After gathering some background information, we headed to La Pointe De Hoc and wandered around the old German battery that was located on this point protecting both Utah and Omaha beaches. The battery was heavily bombed and shelled prior to the US Rangers scaling the cliff wall and attacking the facility. Currently, the ground is pretty much like it was the day of the battle. Bomb craters everywhere and damaged bunkers as well as bunkers that were completely intact. Tim had a great time exploring the various bunkers. I enjoyed comparing the movie to reality. Looks like they did a good job on this one. That night, we camped on the bluffs overlooking Omaha Beach.
Day three, we headed down to the “Beach” itself. We looked at a few of the German bunkers that protected the beach and looked at the beach itself. I went out on the beach at low tide, similar to what it was during the invasion and was awed by the immense size of the beach. It took me over 60 seconds to jog into the edge of the beach from the water. It blows my mind thinking about making the same run with heavy equipment and loads of enemy shooting at you. Seeing a few of the pieces of the battle the Americans took part in makes me realize the impossible odds our countrymen and women were willing to take on and how they persevered that day. I will never look at June 6th the same again.
Our final stop brought all these pieces together and reinforced the sacrifice made by thousands of young men. We visited the American Cemetery located just above Omaha Beach. There are over 10,000 US servicemen and women buried in this little piece of land given to the US Government by the French Government. It is a fantastic facility created by our government and maintained by the US. A fitting tribute to those who sacrificed their lives in Europe. The rows and rows of white markers are overwhelming. I was surprised to see quite a number of French citizens (Grandparents, parents and kids) visiting the site with flowers, placing them on various graves. The older generation is definitely teaching the younger generation about the sacrifice that was made to free their country.
Over the few days visiting the sites, we certainly felt a sense of pride for the accomplishments that the US forces achieved and the results of the sacrifices they made. This will add to my thoughts on Memorial Day next year.
~Jeff~
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