Normandy

July 19, 2011

We took a train from Mont. St Michel out to Normandy, but when we arrived everywhere we checked had no rooms available and most places said that there weren't any afternoon tours or tours at all on Monday. We got a little frustrated, but then we found the tourist office and they gave us a map. The lady there also helped us get some rooms to stay in.

We stayed at the Hotel le Bayeux and the concierge was very nice. She helped us get a car to rent so we could get out to the beaches and told us everywhere to go. She set us up really nice for the night.

In our rooms the toilet was in a separate little closet from the shower and sink, which I found to be a little odd.

I think it's so that if someone is in the shower, you can still use the bathroom. Although, you still have to wait for the sink to wash your hands.

After checking in we took the rental car out to the American Cemetery where 9000 soldiers are buried. It was a very solemn place. Places like that really make you think. They make you grateful to live in America and grateful to have freedom.

Isn't it an odd concept to think that you owe your life to 9000 young boys? Even more if you include the soldiers in Arlington, and the other foreign cemeteries around the globe.

It's always amazing to me how much freedom costs. The saying rings true, "freedom is never free." THat's why we have the soldiers who give their lives. I read poem on a little café wall in Normandy that really touched me about the soldiers. It said:

I was on a beach in France,

where we had all disembarked under a hail of fire,

we a bullet mowed me down.

I am in Omaha, in Omaha.

Think of me.

So my soul rose up to thee, My God,

and I thought of my wife and the new-born baby

that I had left behind.

I am in Omaha, in Omaha.

Think of me.

After many years here in this vast cemetery,

here you are my much-loved son.

That was my single hope.

I am in Omaha, in Omaha.

Think of me.

Dad, I am so proud of you.

Mum wept so often, thinking of you.

We often talk of your battlefield exploits.

Dad, I miss you terribly, you know.

I am in Omaha, in Omaha.

Think of me.

I am in Omaha, in Omaha

I think of you.

The poem really touched me. It got to me. Leaving. wife and a baby behind? Tough.

I am so grateful to all the soldiers who have served, are serving, and will serve.

Normandy was a great place to visit.

Point du hoc was also humbling. You could see the cliffs that the soldiers scaled as well as how badly the land was shot up/damaged from the war. You could see just massive craters. WE all went home with a greater gratitude for the American soldiers.

"You can manufacture weapons, and you can purchase ammunition, but you can't buy valor and you can't pull heroes off an assembly line." - Sergeant John B Ellery.

"Their graves are the permanent and visible symbol of their heroic devotion and their sacrifice in the common cause of humanity."

"If ever proof were needed that we fought for a cause and not for conquest, it could be found in these cemeteries. Here was our only conquest all we asked was enough soil in which to bury our gallant dead." - General Mark W. Clark.