For the anniversary of Overlord.

[jmcquate]

 

[insanebikerboy]

Had the honor of doing a fly past of Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery yesterday. Even at 1,000’ pretty nuts to look at what those dudes ran headlong into.

 

[Pags]

I highly recommend going to Normandy. I went a few years ago and saw the American Cemetery, Omaha (including the beach that was portrayed in saving private Ryan), Point Du Hoc, and one of the larger museums. I wish I had had more time to check out more of the beaches and paratroop sights. I highly recommend the trip.

However, I will say that the Canadians do it right when it comes to public interaction. Although the American Cemetery and museum at Normandy were immaculate the docents at Vimy were second to none while the guides at Normandy, while good, didn't measure up to the Canucks. The Canadians hand pick college kids to go to Vimy and they do a great job of explaining what Vimy means to Canada. The French docents at Normandy are good and appreciative but don't do as good of a job of articulating what Normandy means to Americans.

 

[VMO4]

I have been twice, I love the area, don't miss Arromanches Des Baines, part of where the British landed and put in their pipeline that was the gas station for the break out, and also a museum with uniforms of soldiers from every allied Nation who took part, many more than I was aware. Marborough reefs are still visible on the beach. Great little town to spend an afternoon.

There is a small church at Angoville Au Plain, where two American medics treated both allied and German soldiers in the days following the invasion. There are still blood stains visible on the pews. They were visited by Germans but spared when they saw the two medics treating soldiers from both sides. There is a mysterious unmarked grave with only initials that showed up nearby in the shadow of the church, which may believe is the remains of one of the American medics who was interred there after his death in about 2005.

 

[Max the Mad Russian]

We awaited that so bad here, in steppes and forests. Same summer'44 when Soviet tanks went out of USSR soil and into Poland. Who knows would've we been able to do that without Overlord...

 

[Randy Daytona]

Its not just the anniversary of Normandy, but to go back to the summer of 1918, June 6th marked the Marines shifting from defense to attack at Belleau Wood. 1st Battalion, 5th Marines attacked Hill 142 with Gunnery Sergeant Ernest Janson winning the first Marine Medal of Honor in WW1. Later in the afternoon on 6th June, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines stepped off and advanced into Belleau Wood, led by First Sergent Dan Daly and his now famous exhortation: "Come on, you son of bitches. Do you want to live forever?"

The memorial at Belleau Wood is a must see.

 

[Griz882]

Another great spot is Advanced Landing Ground 10 near Carentan. The first aircraft there were Piper L4’s serving in the spotter role on the afternoon of June 6th. By June 15th it looked like this…

I also highly recommend St. Lo, a critical breakout point and the site of the “Major of St. Lo” memorial.

 

[wink]

However, I will say that the Canadians do it right when it comes to public interaction. Although the American Cemetery and museum at Normandy were immaculate the docents at Vimy were second to none while the guides at Normandy, while good, didn't measure up to the Canucks. The Canadians hand pick college kids to go to Vimy and they do a great job of explaining what Vimy means to Canada. The French docents at Normandy are good and appreciative but don't do as good of a job of articulating what Normandy means to Americans.

I have been to Normandy three times now. One of the things that always impresses me is that the French still bring bus loads of students to the American Cemetery. Every time I was there French students were about. Once when I was there the student group stood at one of the outlooks and got a briefing on the actual landing. Saw the same group down in Aeromaches. Another time I watched the kids dispersed throughout the cemetery with note books or pieces of paper. I asked a teacher speaking English to another tourist what the students were doing. She said they were on a scavenger like hunt for the grave of Preston Niland, The Niland brothers were who Saving Private Ryan was based on. They had watched the movie while studying about the invasion and France's liberation. Having the students wonder about aimlessly searching headstones for Niland was their way of getting the kids out among the graves and actually reading the names of all the dead. I bet there are very few NOVA/MD schools that make an annual trip out to Arlington.

Another contrast to the American Cemetery besides Vimy is La Cambre, the German Cemetery in Normandy . Stark contrast. interestingly, the German government does not support foreign war dead cemeteries. They are maintained by a private foundation or trust. And it is local Normans that routinely bring flowers and lay wreaths at their personal expense.

 

[Randy Daytona]

To go along with the invasion at Normandy, a video from Drachinfel on shore bombardment during WW2.

 

[VMO4]

Another contrast to the American Cemetery besides Vimy is La Cambre, the German Cemetery in Normandy . Stark contrast. interestingly, the German government does not support foreign war dead cemeteries. They are maintained by a private foundation or trust. And it is local Normans that routinely bring flowers and lay wreaths at their personal expense.

Yes, this is a must see, I remember hearing the French government allowed the German cemetery but did not allow the headstones to be white. If I remember they are dark grey or black.

I have always stayed in Bayeux, great little town, there where signs in the windows of the restaurants that said "If you came here in 1944, you already paid, your meal is free"

 

[Pags]

Yes, this is a must see, I remember hearing the French government allowed the German cemetery but did not allow the headstones to be white. If I remember they are dark grey or black.

I have always stayed in Bayeux, great little town, there where signs in the windows of the restaurants that said "If you came here in 1944, you already paid, your meal is free"

The German WWI cemeteries ar similar.

 

[Brett327]

I went as a teen a couple times when we lived in France, though I need to return as an adult for a different perspective. One of my dad's colleagues at the University in Poitiers had an American paratrooper land in his backyard the night before the invasion with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship through letter writing after the war. We would all go to M. Dreyfus' house for dinner and he would talk about the war. Pretty cool stuff.

 

[Renegade One]

Marborough reefs are still visible on the beach. Great little town to spend an afternoon.

Here's a couple pics of the Mulberry harbor caissons visible at the small village of Arromanches. This is Gold Beach, where the British 50th Infantry Division landed.