Vacation

[Brad]

My wife and I took a trip to France this week. Most was spent in Paris but today we went to Normandy to see the landing beaches and U.S. Cemetery there.
It was an amazing trip. Seeing the scale of the beaches, the obstacles faced, and the overall system of defenses makes me wonder even more than ever how the U.S., Canadian, and British troops succeeded.

I can't up upload photos right now but let me just say that it was a trip that makes you really understand how great an acheivment it was. You also get a chance to understand the human sacrifice made to keep people free.

 

[35 shooter]

Sounds like you had a great trip, but also a humbling experience on the beaches!
VERY good vacation!

 

[KHornet]

Guts & Purpose! It is a trip that every American should make! I recently laid a rose on the grave of a Ne. SSgt. at the cemetery at Normandy! I have a 2nd cousin buried some place in France, but have as of yet to find the location, as there are so many American cemeteries in France.

 

[Pistolero]

I tell my friends that they really need to see it in person. It is good you went.

We took a specialized tour, the company was called Battle Bus, and the driver was
an expert amateur historian. Ours was a retired British soldier, so he really understood
the military aspects.

Really amazing to see the moonscape at Point du Hoc and know that they didn't even
damage one of the guns there. Looks exactly like the movie "The Longest Day" because
they filmed it at the actual site, the cliffs that the Rangers had to scale under fire.
We also took an "Easy Company" tour, and went to many of the places that the 506th PIR
Company E (chronicled in the book and miniseries, Band of Brothers) fought, walked
the ground and it was really amazing to see many of the buildings and fields unchanged.
The Airborne Museum at St. Mer Eglis is really a good one, tons of extremely rare,
specialized equipment. I can also recommend the nearby Pegasus Bridge museum.

The sweep of just Omaha Beach is difficult to grasp, it is so huge. An amazing event, and I
am always in awe of the men that had to guts to do it. The cemetery is just heartbreaking,
yet majestic to walk through.

Bill

 

[Brad]

I agree Bill. The expanse of Omaha beach was unreal. Some things have to be seen to really understand.
I was amazed at how well placed the German bunkers were. They fully understood what an invading force would need and did all they could to deny them those areas. The number of guns set to be invisible from the channel yet have a clear line of fire down the beach was an eye opener.
The cemetery was one of those things that brings a tear to the eye of any red blooded American. The fact that so many of the dead are unknown and that they are still finding remains from time to time shocked me.
It was a trip I have wanted to take for a long while and it was all I was hoping it would be.

 

[Rick]

Where's the pictures? There has to be pictures!

 

[Brad]

There are, will try and post some today.
I'm trying to recover from a vacation!

 

[Rick]

Sometimes it's good to get back to work so ya can rest up.

 

[Brad]

Yes it is.

 

[Brad]

Here are a few photos.

Overall view around Point du Hoc. The bomb and shell crates have been left as they were. The fact the Rangers scaled those cliffs is amazing but the fact it was done under fire makes it seem almost impossible.

One of the gun emplacements.

As you come down the stairs to enter a bunker this is what you are facing. Imagine going down those stairs into the muzzle of an MG 42.

A view of part of the British beach as it is today. The remains of the artificial harbor remain.

The American cemetery. A very emotional place to visit. Every few years remains are found in the area and hopefully identified.

One of the amphibious tanks. This one remained under water for 17 years until it was brought up and left at Juno beach as a reminder. Items such as this are all over the town squares in the Normandy area. Tanks, German 88's, American 105's, and such are everywhere. Small museums are also all over the area. Towns too small to have a bakery, store, or other business still have a museums or some artifact from the battle.

I was very struck by the Normandy area. The people who live there have most certainly not forgotten who liberated them.

This was a visit I have wanted to make for decades. It was truly everything I was hoping it would be.

The s

 

[smokeywolf]

Wonderful pictures Brad. Never ceases to amaze me how so many people today can place so little importance on the sacrifice made by so many, to fight tyranny. The passage of time should never be permitted to diminish the importance or acknowledgement of the sacrifice made by service members who gave up their lives to protect the rights of us and others.

Again, great pics.

 

[Ben]

Fantastic Photos.

The next time you do something like this , you really need to consider taking me along.

Ben

 

[Pistolero]

Nice pix, Brad.

One of the things that struck me, of the things that Brad refers to about the people
of Normandy not forgetting, was a new monument put up next to the tiny church at
Angoville-au-Plain by the local people. It was put up relatively recently, in the last
10 years or so, paid for by the locals who are far from wealthy, and the tour guide
said they gathered 6000 Euros, which was more than $9,000 at the time for the
monument.
Artifacts all over the place, great little museums, the occasional 88mm FLAK gun
in the back yard of the museum. Amazing place. Highly recommend that history
buffs take one of the small tours, ours was with 6 other people. Unfortunately,
2 noisy, uninterested children detracted from some of the places, but you can't
control that and the guide was extremely knowledgeable with many maps and
old photos of the places where we went.

More info about the two conscientious objectors who volunteered for paratroop
medic duty, but would carry not weapons, who saved many American and German
wounded that day in that tiny church. Two mortar shells penetrated the roof and
broke the floor stones, but did not explode. Still bloodstains on the pews. Amazing
things were done in Normandy.

http://www.normandy1944.org.uk/angoville.htm

 

[Rick]

The people who live there have most certainly not forgotten who liberated them.

That is really good to hear.

 

[Brad]

Fantastic Photos.

The next time you do something like this , you really need to consider taking me along.

Ben

My wife might object? I will ask.......

 

[KHornet]

The cemetery at the beaches is awe inspiring. However, when you stand there, or lay a rose on a grave, it gives pause to the fact that this is but one of numerous American cemeteries in France.

 

[Charles Graff]

Thanks for the pics. Those men were heroes all. To compare them and the America they fought for to the America of 2015 would be a political post, so I will just move on down the road.