The American Cemetery

Ah, the American cemetery.  How can you not be moved?  It is on the most beautiful swath of land, overlooking the sea.  There really is not a more beautiful place to be laid to rest.  The grounds are meticulously maintained, and there is a reflecting pool, a non-denominational chapel, and a museum.

The families of the American soldiers could choose whether to bring them back home to the States or to have them buried in the cemetery there.  (Unlike the Brits or the Canadians, who were all buried in Normandy.)  Sixty percent of the American families chose to have their relative buried in Normandy.  As one man said of choosing to keep his brother's body in Normandy, "He earned that piece of land."  Earned, indeed.

They say that the number of visitors to Normandy is fewer and fewer each year, as the older generations die off.  Of course the events in Normandy will never be forgotten, but it is sad to think that as World War II is buried deeper in the past, young people will be less inclined to visit its monuments and understand their import.

Longues-Sur-Mer

We also went to see the remaining German canons at Longues-Sur-Mer.

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach is a very moving place.  It is incredible to stand there and think of what went down on that very ground.  It felt strange to stand and smile for photos when so many people had lost their lives there.

The same rocks.  These are the same rocks.

Normandy--Pointe du Hoc

As part of my parents' visit, in what I've now dubbed the "War n' Churches Tour '11", we went to Normandy.  We took a half-day tour, which was just enough for us.  Or enough for me anyway, and the other two weren't complaining.  We passed by another tour in which the leader was going on and ON about some minutiae about the dirt there (I'm not kidding) and prancing around a canon, and I was happy that our guide was chilled out and gave us time to walk around on our own.

Our first stop was Pointe du Hoc, which is between Utah and Omaha beaches.  It it where the rangers first landed (scaling the cliffs, Spiderman-style), in an attempt to destroy the fortifications and guns/cannons that the Germans had placed there as part of their Atlantic Wall.  There were six cannons there, but when the rangers landed they had all been moved.

The ground is dented with many craters left from bombs, and remnants of the Atlantic Wall and German fortifications and bunkers remain.  It it like a post-industrial surface of the moon.

Inside one of the remaining German bunkers.

 One of the German lookout points in a bunker.

 Looking toward Omaha Beach.

Memorial in French and English.