Ste-Mere-Eglise and D-day landing beaches

Friday, May 05, 2017
Crepon, Normandy, France
Today was "The Longest Day" so to speak. We started out early this AM to go to Ste-Mere-Eglise to visit the Airborne Museum in honor of the 84th and 101st divisions. It was well done and gave you a feeling of what went on for those divisions on June 5/6, 1944. There is a model soldier and parachute dangling from the church steeple where paratrooper John Steele got caught and dangled for two hours before being taken prisoner. Next we went to Utah Beach for lunch in arestaurant that was connected to an old German bunker. Had time to walk around the area to visit the memorials dedicated to the various divisions that landed at Utah Beach. There was even a plaque dedicated to the Coast Guard. It was very windy with sand blowing but it gave you a feeling of what the soldiers were up against with the weather on D-day. As you drive in the Normandy area, you see various memorials with flags along the road that commemorate events during the invasion period. Our next stop was Pointe du Hoc, where the Rangers scaled the cliffs near Omaha Beach to capture German bunkers with long guns. Due to faulty intelligence, the longs guns were not on the cliffs and 70% of the Rangers were killed. You can still see the bomb craters from the US bombing runs on the area. We had a chance to walk along Omaha Beach for a few minutes to get a feel for the area. The most moving part of the day was visiting the American Cemetery in Colleville which overlooks Omaha Beach. The cemetery land is actually American property (deeded to us from the French). There are close to 10,000 soldiers buried here. There is row after row of white crosses interspersed with a Star of David marker every now and then (see pictures). We placed stones on many of the Jewish graves. During the trips between each site today, Fanny gave us a running commentary about the landings including the number of troops involved, casualties, etc. She says the motto here is "Forgive, but don't forget". After visiting all the museums, memorials, landing sites and seeing all the cemeteries with war dead, that can be very difficult.
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Comments

jberkow
2017-05-05

Many thanks for some very interesting blogs and a fascinating piece of history. Enjoy your last couple days and have a safe trip home.
Jeff and Kathy xxx

marsha
2017-05-06

I'm sure this a very emotional day... Travel safe and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Bob
2017-05-06

The sites were explicit reminders of war. Memories not soon forgotten by today's visitors. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Safe travels.

2025-02-11

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