D-Day (Thursday 9.12.2013)

Thursday morning we got up early, had breakfast at the hotel and went to meet our tour guide from Overlord D-Day tours.

A retired French Marine, Stephan was a superb guide with an encyclopedic knowledge of D-Day history and a love of the area born of a familial connection to Normandy.  His grandmother moved from Paris to just outside the landing zones in 1940.  Oops...

We made many stops along the 8 hour tour, ranging from major sites and museums, to small roadside shrines erected to individual soldiers and the sacrifice they made.  Clearly, the French, for all their annoying attitudes, are deeply thankful to the sacrifice of so many.  Crosses, plaques of thanks and personal monuments are everywhere and carefully tended by loving locals.  It is very moving place.

I guess I should take a moment to talk about our experience at Omaha Beach.  It is almost impossible to explain what we felt on the sands there.  Many tears were shed.

Simply put, everything you have seen in movies, or read in books have been lies.  Not malicious untruths, not lies designed hurt, yet lies all the same.  No film, book or description can show you the scale of this place.  It is enormous.  6 miles wide and depending on the state of the tide, the water can be 450 yards from the sea wall.  The sheer enormity of the place is breathtaking and frightening.

I'm posting a couple of pics, but beyond that I will not comment more.  Anything I would try to write in this silly little blog would be cheap and shallow to me at this point.

If you have been there, you know what I am speaking of.

If you are going there, you will too.

If you have not been, please plan on it at some point in your life.  It is that important.

Omaha Beach to the East

Omaha Beach to the West

Sorry to be so short with this post, I cannot wrap my soul around what happened here.  Perhaps someday I can adequately express myself without anger, grief, gratitude and prayer driving me to tears, but this is not that day.