Remembering D-Day: My Trip To Normandy, France

This post is in remembrance of all the who fought so valiantly 66 years ago so we could live in freedom today.

On June 6, 1944, 66 years ago, approximately 160,000 US, British and Canadian troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, in a concerted push to defeat Hitler and Nazi Germany. 10,000 American men died on the beaches of Normandy after a perilous crossing of the English Channel.

I was saddened to see that there was no mention of this being D-Day in the Los Angeles Times or the Pasadena Star News, only an AP article about efforts to protect one of the locations from the effects of erosion.

A few statistics:

• 160,000 Allied troops took part in the assault
• There were 10,000 American casualties in one day
• 5,000 ships crossed the English Channel on the morning of June 6 to deliver troops and supplies
• 800 planes dropped 13,000 paratroopers behind enemy lines. Many were shot out of the sky as they drifted to earth

These maps are part of a display at the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer

A couple of years ago, my husband and I made a pilgrimage to Normandy, France. Neither one of us had family members who participated in D-Day (my father was a defense plant worker and his father served in the Pacific), but we felt it was an important part of our American heritage to stand where so many had died fighting so we could live free.

We booked a tour with Overlord Tours out of Bayeaux, France due to reviews we had read on-line. We signed up for Tour #2, a tour of Utah and Omaha beaches and surrounding areas.

 

Our guide, Laurent, at the start of the tour

Our tour guide, Laurent, was very knowledgeable and passionate about all things D-Day. He, like many other people we met on our trip, love Americans and frequently expressed their appreciation of the sacrifices the American people made to help defeat Nazi Germany and expel them from France.

The tour inspired both sadness and awe. Standing on Utah and Omaha beaches, looking up at the German gun emplacements, it was hard to believe that anyone survived landing on the beach that day. The American troops were caught in a horrific cross-fire from German guns on a very deep beach with no cover for hundreds of yards.

2 movies worth watching are The Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan. Both accurately depict what the Allies were up against landing on the beaches of Normandy.

 

Normandy Beach landing in Saving Private Ryan







Pont-du-Hoc landing in The Longest Day



Another remarkable must see is the mini-series Band of Brothers.

Here's some photos from the American Cemetery at  Colleville-sur-Mer:

Some facts about the American Cemetery at Colleville:

• The cemetery sits on 172 acres on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach
• It holds 9368 graves of soldiers killed during the assault on Normandy
• 307 graves are marked "unknown"
• 1557 names are listed in the Garden of the Missing, those who's remains were never found
• The cemetery is maintained by the American Battle Monument Commission

There are 4868 British soldiers buried at Bayeaux Cemetery. There were also 946 Canadian casualties as a result of the assault on Normandy.

Map of Normandy Beach assaults as seen from the American Cemetery

View of Omaha Beach with map in the foreground from the American Cemetery. American soldiers had to run across that wide expanse of sand while being fired upon by German soldiers and gun emplacements.

If you only get to make one overseas trip in your life, or are wondering where to go on your next vacation, I highly recommend making a pilgrimage to Normandy. You will be welcomed with open arms by the locals. You will see some beautiful countryside and eat some delicious food. And you will be paying homage to true American (and British and Canadian) heroes, who richly deserve our admiration and respect.

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