RonRC
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- Sep 2, 2011
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My wife, son and daughter-in-law and I spent the day touring the historic WW II landing site of Omaha beach in Normandy.
The bomb and shell craters were as impressive as the remains of the German bunkers.
It was frightening to stand on the beach and see the locations of the M42 machine guns that set up such a devastating cross-fire.
We visited the American cemetery that holds 11,000 soldiers. It was a very moving experience to see the markers for these primarily 18-20 year old boys, boys who were to never again see their homes or families.
We also went to the German cemetery. The Germans buried their 22,000 soldiers in pairs, so each marker listed 2 names. Sometimes, there was one name and the other simply was translated as a "German Soldier." We had little or no feeling for the SS or Gestapo soldiers who gunned down unarmed French men and later killed their families, but did have sympathy for the conscripted young men who lost their lives.
Tomorrow, we are off to Utah and Juno beaches, then the remaining landing zones. After that, we travel to Bastogne.
My father was not at Normandy, but landed at Anzio, Italy. My father couldn't swim, so the Army made him "amphibious." He was more intimidated by carrying his 30 kg pack into the ocean water than by the 14 German divisions that come down to meet the landing troops and the big railroad guns directed to the beachhead.
I'm still uploading the photos to the computer, so no pictures yet.
Ron
The bomb and shell craters were as impressive as the remains of the German bunkers.
It was frightening to stand on the beach and see the locations of the M42 machine guns that set up such a devastating cross-fire.
We visited the American cemetery that holds 11,000 soldiers. It was a very moving experience to see the markers for these primarily 18-20 year old boys, boys who were to never again see their homes or families.
We also went to the German cemetery. The Germans buried their 22,000 soldiers in pairs, so each marker listed 2 names. Sometimes, there was one name and the other simply was translated as a "German Soldier." We had little or no feeling for the SS or Gestapo soldiers who gunned down unarmed French men and later killed their families, but did have sympathy for the conscripted young men who lost their lives.
Tomorrow, we are off to Utah and Juno beaches, then the remaining landing zones. After that, we travel to Bastogne.
My father was not at Normandy, but landed at Anzio, Italy. My father couldn't swim, so the Army made him "amphibious." He was more intimidated by carrying his 30 kg pack into the ocean water than by the 14 German divisions that come down to meet the landing troops and the big railroad guns directed to the beachhead.
I'm still uploading the photos to the computer, so no pictures yet.
Ron