France -- Day 3, July 20, 2016

Day 3 – France – July 20, 2016

I have to say that breakfasts in France are simply delicious.  The hotel served a buffet consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, scrumptious croissants and breads, delicate, tasty crepes, cheeses and lunch meats .. oh my!  Our guide picked us up just before 9 a.m. for the day’s tour of the American battle sites that took place here in Normandy.

The day is June 6, 1944 … D-Day.  British, Canadian and Americans troops along with the French Resistance have been planning, plotting and practicing for this day … the invasion of France to liberate the people.  It was a sobering day to walk the areas and beaches where these brave men fought and died. It brought reality to the many war movies Bob made me watch!  This is reality.  This is history.  This is monumental.  This is also joyous and full of gratitude!

German Cemetery in Normandy

The German Cemetery … 21,000 German soldiers are buried here, where they died, two men per grave. Each grave site has two flat markers stating their name, rank, birth date and date of their death.  The youngest soldier was 14, the oldest 75.  100 of them were Jewish.  Scattered throughout the cemetery, marking the sectors, were groups of five crosses as ornaments, plus a commemorative monument upon a hill of the unknown soldiers toward the middle of the grounds.  The cemetery is privately owned and maintained with only a small dollar amount provided by the German government.  Money was raised by people buying and planting small maple trees which surround the area, and the large oak trees within the cemetery itself represent peace.  It was interesting to me that most of the soldiers in Normandy at the time of the invasion were not SS soldiers, which was the Nazi Army, but from the main German army, which were not affiliated with the Nazis. That makes a huge difference to the French, even to this day!

Replica of the invasion, a paratrooper
tangled on the steeple of the church
in /Sante-Mere-Eglise

Sante-Mere-Eglise … In the hours prior to the invasion, thousands of paratroopers dropped from the airplanes to do the strategic work necessary for the success of the venture. Weather played havoc on the plans of not only the paratroopers, but on every aspect of the invasion. But for the paratroopers, gliding down from the sky in darkness, it meant not landing where expected.  Many where shot as they came down, some drowned when landing in surrounding marshes and swamps, and some had the misfortune of landing in the town square of Sante-Mere-Eglise where the towns people and German troops, who were supposed to be asleep, were awake due to a burning house.  One soldier’s parachute, John Steele, got caught up on the church steeple and hung there for several hours “playing dead” after he was shot in the foot.  After the Germans took him down and realized he was not dead, he was imprisoned, only to escape a few days later!  (Red Button played this character in the move The Longest Day) Today a parachute with a replica of a soldier hangs down the side of the church steeple in Sante-Mere-Eglise … always a reminder to them of their intense gratitude for the sacrifices made to liberate them.  Stained glass windows have been installed in the church over the years by both the townspeople and GIs again to show their gratitude.  This was the first town to be liberated by the 82^nd Airborne Division.

The Airborne Museum in town was also very interesting and brought me to tears a couple of times.  What these men went through, their valor and courage, their fears and their faith … simply incredible. Our travels through this area, which encompasses about 50 miles from one end to the other, was quite beautiful … very hilly, many fields, rolls and rolls of baled hay, high thick hedges along fields, along both sides of the roads and between properties (which, by the way, made it extremely difficult for the solders to fight in 1944). This region is known for its dairy, horses and cider brandy! 

Utah Beach … Of the five beaches stormed by soldiers on D-Day, Utah Beach is the farthest west and was the easiest to take by the American 7^th Army Division in spite of the weather. That probably is because the embankment just beyond the beach is not as high as the others, and overall the Germans were not expecting an invasion in Normandy and had pulled most of their troops back.  Today there are monuments honoring the US Navy and others, a replica of the landing crafts on display and a museum on site.  We also enjoyed a French lunch of egg, tomato, lettuce, onion sandwich on a baguette with a hint or horseradish … yummy and filling!

Monument dedicated to the Navy,
Utah Beach

Utah Beach

The steep cliffs the Rangers had to climb
at Pointe-Du-Hoc

T

One of the German bunkers
remaining at Pointe-Du-Hoc

The Pointe-Du-Hoc … This is the point, literally, between Utah and Omaha beaches.  The vertical cliffs snuggle right up to the English Channel, and they are about 100 feet high.  The US Rangers were responsible for taking these cliffs and taking out the six French artillery cannons the Germans had commandeered.  It was from this German bunker that one young soldier, looking through the one-foot high opening, saw the ocean filled horizon to horizon with a convoy of our invading ships.  Imagine the fear he was experiencing at this time!  What once was perfectly flat land is now pocked with deep craters from cannon fire from those ships.  The bunkers are now empty and mostly battered, but you can envision the formidable obstacle they were for the Rangers.  One ammunitions building with about 3-foot thick walls was exploded with such intensity that three of the walls can still be seen blown away from the original building … incredible.  Entering these bunkers, viewing the craters, imagining the Rangers climbing those steep cliffs while under fire makes the battle real.  Lives were lost and men were maimed, but all fought on, believing in their cause of freedom to liberate France.  A sobering yet inspiring place!

Omaha Beach … The most difficult battle the Americans faced was on Omaha Beach, east of Pointe-

Omaha Beach

Du-Hoc  (the three other beaches of the invasion included Gold invaded by the British, Juno, invaded by the Canadians, and Sword, another British invasion point).  Omaha Beach itself is about four miles long and more than three football fields long at low tide, then a very high embankment, all protected by German soldiers, cannons and other artillery.  Plus the beach was “protected” by thousands of mines on steel posts or sharp metal barricades to prevent tanks and other artillery from coming ashore. Because of the weather, the landing parties did not come ashore where originally planned, but everyone ran bravely across the sandy beach up to the embankment, then up the embankment to capture the German stronghold … again, all while being shot at!  It took all day.  Walking the beach where so many died that day also brought reality to the war that was fought before I was born.  By the end of the day, the area was secure, but victory came at a terrible loss of life. I was extremely moved by the impassioned plea of our guide, who was born and has always lived in Normandy and whose grandparents suffered the occupation and the

The sculpture honoring the D-Day Soldiers
on Omaha Beach

subsequent bombings destroying everything they had … but that ultimately resulted in freedom. Her message to us was first, they were and still are extremely grateful for what the Americans, British and Canadians did to liberate their country.  They know without a doubt that even though most of their human and material losses resulted after the invasion in the quest to drive out the Germans was done for the greater good. Yes, many French civilians lives were also lost in the quest. And second, that we must always remember what we did here, we must always remember our history, and we must always remember the importance of being free!  Personally, it made me sad in a way, as I feel many in our country do not remember, plus our freedoms in the US are being taken from us one freedom at a time. 

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial … Oh my, what a beautiful, peaceful site.  The

Mosaic ceiling in the chapel
at the Normandy American cemetery

cemetery is located along the coast of the English Channel,Overlooking Omaha beach, and among the 9,386 crosses or Stars of David (149) markers on the graves are beautiful flowers, lush trees, a lovely walkway along the high ground along the beach, a beautiful monument honoring our fallen and a lovely rose garden honoring those lost in the battle of Normandy.  In the center there is a small chapel with a lovely mosaic on the ceiling of angels caring for the wounded and the dead during the battle.  Only about 40 percent of those who died in the invasion effort, dated from approximately June through September of 1944, are buried here.  The rest are buried in the US as requested by family members.  The men who fought and died here did so for a noble purpose, a purpose still worth defending.  The loss of life is sobering … may their lives, given freely, never be in vain!

A fruit and vegetable store in
Bayeux, Normandy

Bayeux … It was a long day, and we’re tired and hungry!  After a quick shower, we meandered to the center of this quaint little French town of Bayeux where we picked up a bottle of wine and some water and had a most delicious French dinner.  Bob had duck breast … I had a duck breast, duck pate and smoked salmon salad. It doesn’t get much better!