Today we had a wonderful tour led by Sophie, our Tour by Locals guide. We started earlier than planned as there are still commemorative activities going on and she was afraid everything would be too crowded. So, she picked us up at 8am and we headed straight to the American Cemetary. We were the first in line at the gates and entered at exactly 9am.
There was a flyover the beach in preparation for activities in Sainte Mere Eglise.
Earlier this week we had trouble getting to sites in Paris due to the construction for the Olympics. Well, today we had trouble getting to the sites due to deconstruction of the stands and stages from the 80th commemorations on Thursday. So, the girls couldn’t see the 22-foot bronze statue entitled The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves. Here’s the photo from Wikipedia.
We were able, though, to see the small chapel located in the middle of the cemetery.
If family member of someone buried at the cemetery notifies staff that they will be visiting the gravesite, sand is sprinkled on the cross/Star of David, so the name and information is visible. Otherwise, the letters are difficult to read as you can see on the cross behind this one.
After the cemetery, we headed to the beach where the stands were still up from the ceremony. So, the girls had to walk along the beach to get to the sculpture, The Braves.
On our way to Point du Hoc, we passed the spot where the original American Military Cemetery was located. During the war, approximately 1500 military personnel were buried here. Eventually France gave the land where the cemetery now sits to the U.S. The families of the men interred in this original site were given the option of having the remains sent home. Sophie said about 40% of the remains stayed in France.
Pointe du Hoc is where 225 soldiers from the 2nd Ranger Battalion scaled the 100-foot cliff in an attempt to neutralize the guns they believe were covering Omaha and Utah beaches. It turns out that the Germans had moved the guns back but, despite heavy casualties (only 90 of them were not wounded or killed), the Rangers were able to find and eliminate the guns.
Because of erosion around the cliff and the bomb craters, tourists are no longer able to walk off the pathway, so we didn’t spend too much time here.
Then it was time for lunch. Sophie took us to a creperie in a small town just a short ride from Pointe du Hoc.
After lunch our first stop as Utah Beach. My uncle landed here on D-Day +5 or 11 Jun 1944.
Here Drew and Nora had a chance to touch the English Channel. They said it was cold, but not as cold as they expected.
There were several monuments, including one honoring the Navy.
On the approach to the beach, there was one honoring Maj. Dick Winters, the leader of Easy Company, the company highlighted in Band of Brothers.
Thousands of hedgehogs lined the beaches, making it difficult to move men and equipment on to the beach.
Our final stop was the town of Sainte Mere Eglise. In the early morning hours of 6 Jun 44, paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions landed in the town instead of outside the town. As a result, casualties were high. But it was the first town to be liberated on D-Day. Today, there was a festival going on, so the place was packed.
If you’ve seen the 1962 film, The Longest Day, the church in this town was one of the plot lines. Paratrooper Private John Steele (played by Red Buttons in the movie) landed on the steeple of the church, dangling there for 2 hours before being captured by the Germans. A few hours later he escaped and made it back to his division. He survived the war, dying of throat cancer in 1969.
Even though I’ve been here several times, today was the first time I went into the church.
There were a lot of active duty soldiers in town from France, U.S. and Belgium.
It was an hour’s drive back to Caen and a relaxing evening. We have a very early train tomorrow (6:09) so we are packing up tonight. Tomorrow, the girls will touch the ground on their 4th country…. England. It will be great!