June 14, 2014
The 70th anniversary signs and banners are still flying in Bayeux, the small Normandy town closest to the D-Day beaches and the only town not to be 80% (or more) destroyed by the bombing in World War II. Our train (not affected by the national rail strike) pulled into the station around noon, and we found a small place to have lunch.
Matt, our guide from Normandy Sightseeing Tours, had excellent online reviews, so we were quite pleased to have him take us around the areas in the 9-person van (8 guests plus Matt). Our first stop was the German Cemetery in La Cambe where there are 21,145 fallen German soldiers.
The symbolism of the large mound is that it's made of all the dirt from the graves that were dug. The statue on top represents parents who've lost their children in the war. The thing to remember is that by 1944, German men of all ages were being conscripted into the army -- they weren't all Nazis; many of them were against Hitler; but they had no choice. The five cross gatherings are purely symbolic and do not mean five soldiers are buried there.
Pointe du Hoc is the famous site where 225 U.S. Army Rangers had to scale the cliff to immobilize the guns and the range finder. Despite all the heavy bombing the night before, the heavily fortified gun emplacements (10 feet thick of concrete and re-bar) were still in pretty good shape. Even this World War I gun was being used and is still in place today. The Dagger monument is to honor those brave soldiers who really began the turning point of the war. With staggering losses, the remaining Rangers didn't find the guns; they'd been moved inland where they were found and destroyed.
The long flat area called Omaha Beach was the ideal landing site for the Allies -- long, flat, but exposed to so many weapons. The low tide really lays open the sand as we experienced, even though the tide wasn't all the way out.
The first area captured was the Southern point (pictured here); from there the Allies continued to move North and take one sector after another.
The final stop on our tour was the American Cemetery and Visitor Center. Standing on American property was quite amazing. Although the main 70th anniversary ceremonies had taken place eight days earlier, there were plenty of people there on this Saturday. One veteran from New Jersey had his VFW hat on, sporting many of the same Navy ribbons that my Dad had from WWII. I shook his hand and said (as I try to do to all veterans), "Thank you for your service." He smiled at me, with tears in his eyes. That caused my own eyes to tear up.
We walked through some of the areas (many were "Closed for maintenance") looking at the graves, most with a cross, and some with a Star of David (many of them had pebbles on the Star). Our nephew Chris and his family brought American flags with them from Naples to place on some of the graves. My Dad and Mom are buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego, and so we're used to seeing the headstones perfectly aligned. They are even more spectacular here -- all facing west in perfect symmetry.
The reflection pool and the semi-circular memorial are a focal point for most activities, and so it was quite busy. Some people were placing wreaths; others were listening to tour guides.
The Visitor Center has a short film, but I think the best part is this rippling pool that leads out to the ocean. As the shallow waves come toward you, you can envision the waves on Omaha Beach.
We took the train from Bayeux back to Paris; all of us were exhausted from the sights, the history learned and re-visited, and the wind that blew in from the ocean, reminding us that life is ever changing. It was a great experience -- glad we did it!
From Paris, France --
Au revoir!
Stuart (and Darlene)
