A Walk Through History

After a great Birthday we set off to the Normandy area of France to see for ourselves the places that we have read so much about. D-Day and Operation Overlord are very well known in US history but there is so much more to the story. The bravery of young men put to the ultimate test under extreme circumstances cannot be truly understood by reading a book. No matter how good the author you cannot get a real sense of the impossible task set upon these soldiers and sailors until you stand at the edge of the water looking across a seemingly endless stretch of open sand and realize that they had to cross it, full of obstacles, to reach the first possible cover from unrelenting enemy fire. Or to stand at the base of a crumbling cliff looking up and knowing that if they even made it to the top there was danger waiting. Walking on the sand where so many young men gave their lives for freedom, Men often too young to have married or have children to carry on their legacy, was very emotional. The large part of a generation was lost protecting our way of life.
We arrived at our first stop Juno Beach early in the day. We wanted to see as much as we could on our way to our B & B because we wanted to devote a full day to the best known of the beaches. We also agreed that we would try to spend most of the time finding specific sites and only resort to museums if we ran out of things to do. Let just say we spent the better part of 3 days in a living museum. I have to say that our choice of timing was perfect for our time here in Normandy. I would like to take credit for this but it really was a total accident. All of our reservations had been made when I realized how close to the D-Day anniversary that we were going to be there.

Well, we stumbled on a week-long tribute. It was like being in a region wide re-enactment. Army jeeps everywhere, people dressed in uniform or in character from that time. It was really kind of surreal. Juno beach was the site of the Canadian Landing on D-Day. The only thing marking the site was the presence of flags at he site. The tide was in and it was rocky so it was hard to conceptualize how they were able to accomplish this. After leaving Juno beach we headed toward Arromanches. This is a little-known town that had a big impact in the days following the Allied invasion.

This is the site where the US decided to construct a temporary harbor to bring in additional troops and supplies. There are still a number of concrete structures out in the water that you can tell it was a massive project. The Army Engineers came in on June 7 and had it up and running 8 days later. Incredible considering the technology, or lack thereof, at that time. The town had completely embraced its connection to the war so it was completely full of people in character and tourists of course so we spent our time on an overlook checking out the harbor. Our last stop for the day was a still intact gun battery not far from our Bed & Breakfast.

Located at Longues du Mer these huge guns had the range of up to 12 miles, far enough to hit both Juno and Omaha Beaches. There are 4 gun emplacements. 3 were still intact lined up along the coast. We spent quite a lot of time walking through the concrete structures trying to imagine what it must have been like when they were firing and realizing that the German soldiers that manned this post never even saw what or who they were firing at. Just another part of a mostly “impersonal” war. Killing from a distance became the norm. By this time it was after 6 PM. We checked into our accommodations for the next 3 days and found out that we had a shared Kitchenette so we headed to the market to provision, came back and had a light dinner and were off to bed knowing that the next day would be the most emotionally draining.

We had breakfast early so that we could head out and beat some of the crowds. Our first stop Omaha Beach. We weren’t 100% sure where it was and with no WiFi at our current lodging we couldn’t do research the night before but I think it was better that way. We headed in the general direction navigating toward the museum which is not actually near the beach. We just stumbled on a little sign on a side road and after some narrow turns and a bit of a rocky road we turned the corner and there it was. There was one couple camping in a van there….and us. It was a bit grey and the tide was out, much like it was on that day nearly 74 years ago.

It is nearly impossible to describe how it felt to walk out to the waters edge and look back toward to hill and realized what a daunting task it would have been to try and cross that beach with 75 pounds of gear on, navigating the obstacles and trying not to get mowed down by gunfire at the same time. We spent some quiet time walking and looking up the hill at the concrete gun emplacement that are still there. We climbed the hill slowly, still alone with our thoughts finally reaching the top where a Monument stands honoring the 1st Infantry Division also known as, “The Big Red 1,” due to their insignia. They were the soldiers that first landed on this part of Omaha Beach.

The monument gave tribute to the 627 soldiers from that Division that died that day, 3 of them received the Medal of Honor. Very near by is the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. We have been to a lot of cemeteries on this trip but this one is so immense that looking over the acres of graves we realized what it took to finally start making a real difference in this war. The cemetery holds 9,387 graves with another 1,557 on the wall of the missing. A staggering number of military souls lost on the coast of France.

Point du Hoc is a cliff outcropping between Omaha and Utah Beaches. It is not as well known in history but served a very important purpose during D-Day. Scott has always been a “fan” of the Army Rangers and this was their assigned infiltration point. There job was to take out the 155mm gun emplacements that the Germans had there. The Point du Hoc cliffs are sheer, crumbling rock 100 feet high. The Rangers had rocket propelled rope ladders that were supposed to be shot from their landing craft. Unfortunately, the rockets got wet during the rough boat ride to the location so did not travel far enough from the boat to reach the cliffs. Thinking on their feet the Rangers carried the ladders to shore and deployed them from the base of the cliffs. As with the other landing sites a lot of men died but a few heroes were also born. We weren’t sure what to expect but there was a lot to see at Point du Hoc.

The craters from bombing and Naval weapons are still on top of this immense cliff as are the gun batteries, tunnels and German troupe housing network, all underground. While we were there we started to hear aircraft and looked up to find several C130’s circling the site. More on that later. We had planned to make Utah beach our next stop but there was going to be a parachute jump in a nearby town at 2 PM. Since we had spent so much time at our previous stops we decided to go there first. This was essentially a re-enactment with 101st airborne Veterans, some as old as 60, jumping from a Dakota with equipment that is a near exact replica of that used during the invasion.

As we have found out the French run on shall we say, French time. The jump actually occurred at 4:15 but we met a really nice couple from Holland and spent the time chatting with them. Paratroopers were an essential part of the invasion with more than 10,000 being dropped in the area in the early morning hours prior to the beach assault. Their main objective was to hold off German troops and secure main cross roads in preparation for the landing forces arrivals. They too took heavy casualties.

After the jump we finally made our way to Utah Beach. It was a bit more crowed at the end of the day but we still took some time to walk out to the surf alone and reflect on the events that day. We also noticed how different the actual beaches are. Omaha was fine sand and pebbles. We picked up a heart shaped rock as a memento. Utah Beach on the other hand is coarse sand and shells. We found a piece of a clam shell also shaped like a heart. We will never forget or stop appreciating the sacrifices. As we headed back up the beach we saw several men in military flight suits.

Since it seemed like everyone the past coupe of days were in some sort of uniform that didn’t seem out of the ordinary. As we got closer though we realized that these guys were active duty Airforce. We stopped to talk to them and found out that they were the Pilots of the C130’s that we had seen earlier. Based at Ramstein Airforce Base in Germany they were specially selected for a historic flight unit. It was interesting talking to them. They said that the following day there were going to be 8 planes. Several US and the rest from other countries.

After a long and emotionally draining day we started to make our way “home” looking for a place to grab some dinner. We came into Saint Mere Eglise, where the 82nd airborne troops were dropped, and there was a huge encampment of “American” soldiers all of whom spoke only French but it was interesting to walk around and see all of the stuff that they had. We had a very nice dinner outside watching military vehicles come and go. I swear that are 100’s of US military jeeps in France along with Ambulances, troop carriers, motorcycles and “Duce and a half” trucks. We are so glad that we were finally able to come to this amazing place.

Our last full day in France was spent at Mount St. Michel. Most of you might not have ever heard of it but I’m quite certain that you have at least seen photos of this immense, wonderous, mysterious crazy place. We first saw it while watching the Tour de France. Anyone who has watched even one stage of this historic bicycle race has noticed how they always show these beautiful old castles, churches and chateaus. Well Mount St. Michel is a Mountain, Cathedral, Town and Island all in one. Connected to land by a bridge this Medieval Cathedral and town dominate the landscape for miles around.

I took a photo of it from more than 3 miles away. Seeing this monumental place has been on our “have to do” list for a long time. It lived up to all of the hype. We wandered the streets and of course took photos. We stopped on the road back for a late lunch and sat outside with distant views of Mount St. Michel. For once I left my camera in the car…what a mistake that was. In the middle of our meal we looked up and there were 8 C130’s flying low and slow around the “Mountain.” An amazing sight and one that we will never forget. I took a few pictures with my phone and ran to the car for my camera but was only able to get a couple of distant shots. The experience will have to live on in our memories, much like this trip so far. This chapter is closed for now. Next stop is Iceland and a whole new set of experiences. Love to all…Good Night.