Oct 9, 2009
Operation EuroGo: D+6
October 9, 2009 // Normandy, France
Pattiserie for breakfast again.
No GPS for awhile, and we are in the middle of the city with no idea how to get back. Oh good, it finally picks up a signal. Off we go! (Oh, did I mention it is raining?)
09:00 The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial over looking Omaha Beach is an experience I didn’t expect. Security at the entrance to the memorial building with metal detectors and all. The lower half was a very well done museum exhibit on the massiveness and neccesity of D-Day. I didn’t know it was there and it was so well done it truly honors the memories of all who served.
We toured the cemetery where over 10,500 service men are buried in neat clean rows upon rows and then walked the path down to Omaha Beach. Standing on the beach was just as moving a moment as standing in the cemetery. The beach was silent save for the unrelenting peaceful pounding of the waves crashing on the dark sand. It’s a different experience to stand somewhere you know hundreds of lives were lost. I picked up a blood red stone to remind me of the sacrifice of those men.
13:00 We head off to find the Placd du la Republic where Harry was awarded the Silver Star on June 20, 1944. We found it just fine. The statue in the center erected to commemorate WWI vets in the town center was still there. The area is a little run down and sadly doesn’t really feel all that special anymore.
The rest of the day we visited the Dead Man’s Corner Museum in Saint Côme-du-Mont, and the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mére-Eglise.
