Sunday, April 10, 2011

Visiting the Hallowed Beaches of Normandy

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Over 9,000 Americans who fought in the D Day invasion lie in these graves, killed in action to liberate France and all of Europe from the control of Nazi Germany.  This cemetery is considered part of the United States but is located in Normandy, France.

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Cliffs that 225 Army Rangers scaled to destroy 6 big guns that were protecting  Omaha & Utah Beaches.  Only 90 of the Rangers survived the attack but they did destroy the guns.

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German pill box (forward observation station)        entering pill box                     moving through the rooms

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where the observers stood inside the pill box                       view of the English Channel from inside the pill box

 

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Depressions in the ground around the gun emplacements are from the bombs dropped by the allies before the D Day attack.  Our tour also took us to Gold Beach (where the English landed) and Omaha Beach (where the US landed).

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tank found buried in the sand 2 years ago at Gold Beach      pontoons left from one of the floating bridges

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                     monument at Omaha Beach                                        collecting sand from Omaha Beach

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Museum at Gold Beach                          German antiaircraft gun                       German gun used in bunkers

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US Army halftrack vehicle                             Jeremiah O’Brien sailed to France for the 50th anniversary of D Day

On our bus ride back to the ship one of the ships passengers was a WWll veteran and he talked to us about his landing in Le Havre, France and his involvement in the liberation of Paris and the battle of the Rhine.  It was quite an eye-opening day!

2 comments:

Romios Family said...

What a cool thing to have the WWII veteran on your trip to hear personal experiences. Also love the idea to get sand their for your collection! It made me look at my own wall and realize we need to go to some new places for sand!

The Roberts Family said...

So glad u remembered to get sand!