D-Day Memorials

D-Day Memorials

On our third day in Normandy, we drove to Ste. Mere Eglise and Omaha Beach to see the remembrances from WWII, in particular from June 6, 1944.  It was so interesting to see so much of what really happened and what was depicted in the movie “The Longest Day,” including an effigy of John Steele who was the parachutist who got caught on the church at Ste. Mere Eglise and played dead to avoid being shot by the Germans.  He was a very cool guy who went back to the town a few times and they celebrated his return in style each time. 

The Airborne Museum is worth it and I had no hesitation about paying our way into that – although come to think of it those planes were visible from outside the fence!  We saw one of the gliders that was used to bring men and materiel onto the beaches, with hundreds of pieces of memorabilia such as uniforms, guns, personal effects, letters, ration kits, products in use at the time such as Blackjack chewing gum and Pall Mall cigarettes.  There were also many photographs and films from the actual invasion that were fascinating.  The saddest part was the hundreds of soldiers who died in the crash landings of the gliders. In addition to the glider with life-size models inside (oh, it looked scary), they have an authentic C-47 - the militarized version of the DC-3 - that was used to drop paratroops on D-Day.  It is housed under a grand canopy that is meant to resemble a huge parachute, all quite interesting.  It appears that the entire city of Ste. Mere Eglise has made its living catering to the D-Day tourist industry for at least two generations and it’s still a popular spot.  It sounded more like Norman Oklahoma than it did Normandy as we heard conversations when leaving the parking lot in the middle of town. They are in the process of expanding all the parking and displays for the upcoming 70^th anniversary of D-Day.

From there we drove to Omaha Beach just to see the real deal.  Now it is a tranquil bit of beach facing England, but with very little imagination you could see the entire horizon filled with three thousand ships.  We walked the length of the beach and talked about the real courage that each of the Allied forces must have had in order to venture into the breach.  Truly a remarkable experience! 

Contrast their commitment to preserving freedom in the face of such great adversity, to the lily livered, weak kneed, slum dwelling microbes that we call our Congress.  They sit in their beautifully appointed offices and first and foremost try to decide what is best for them personally, as opposed to what is good for the nation. Those Republican SOBs that closed the government are certainly going to reap what they have sowed when everyone realizes how petty and foolish they are. We saw busloads of elderly veterans – some of whom were there in 1944 - turned away from the American Cemetery because those spineless scoundrels closed all of the national parks, one of which is the American Cemetery. Many of those who were turned away will never get another chance to visit the grave of a fallen comrade or beloved family member, just because Congress really doesn’t give a damn!  Enough of my vitriol, it is much too nice a day here in France for me to waste any more breath on them.  Enjoy your Sunday, we are certainly doing so here.  Cindy and Wm