After the other women returned to the US yesterday, Gisele and I drove to the small town of Bayeux in Normandy. Today we went to Omaha Beach, the first landing point on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
We first went to the American Cemetery near the beach.
I didn’t expect to be as moved as I was. As I walked through the field of cross after cross, I began reading the names, rank, state, and date of death on each cross (or star of David). It brought home to me that each one represented a real person who had died here in Normandy. There are so many!
We then went to the hills above the beach and explored the ruins of the German bunkers overlooking the beach.
Finally I went down on the beach where the American troops landed and looked up at the hill.
I kept thinking of the D-Day scene from “Saving Private Ryan”. I could see where the German bunkers were located, and I imagined trying to move up that hill carrying 75 pounds of equipment while being fired on from above.
I will definately watch SPR again with a new perspective.
There are several museums around the area dedicated to WW2 and especially the Allied thrust through Normandy. We visited one of the best in nearby Caen and spent over three hours going through the exhibits that started from the end of WW1 through the rise of Hitler and on to D-Day and the end of the war. Audio guides, movies, a WW2 tank, airplane and soldier’s equipment brought it to reality. Today has probably been the best part of the trip to France.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Richard // Jun 2, 2013 at 11:40 am
Visiting Normandy brings home the point that real war is not just some Hollywood production. People actually die in wars, yet sadly they are sometimes unavoidable and necessary. WWII was one of those times.
2 Donna // Jun 2, 2013 at 2:20 pm
I remember feeling like you described at Pearl Harbor. There were a lot fewer men killed there, but it was incredibly moving.
I also felt overwhelmed at Auschwitz. It occurs to me that Normandy began putting an end to what was happening at Auschwitz. So many lives were taken that day, but who knows how many were saved because if it.
3 Mom // Jun 2, 2013 at 4:24 pm
I remember the original event; it was such a terrible, long war.
4 Don // Jun 2, 2013 at 4:57 pm
Yet it actually lasted about half as long as the “War on Terror” has gone on now. Of course the current one hasn’t killed very many compared to WWII.
5 Donna // Jun 6, 2013 at 9:43 pm
Thought about this today, on D-Day.
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