Utah Beach
We debated whether to drag all the kids with us to see the landing reenactment on Utah Beach at 8:30. We left at 7:50 without them. As we got to the beach, we saw about a thousand people & you could feel the patriotic excitement. Stacia felt bad that we didn't wake the kids, but it turned out to be another bust. The landing never happened, no one was there to announce anything & we were never told why. It was still really neat to be gathered together there on the anniversary of that historic event. A group of 1944-dressed men did come onto the beach, line up & marched off down the beach after most of the crowd got their photos-worth, us included...
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| the crowd gathering at Utah Beach |
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| Stacia chatting with a fellow from Miami |
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| the Army group coming on the beach |
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| lining up ready to march |
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| wait for me! |
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| photo-op for the crowd |
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| the Navy monument at Utah Beach |
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| Eisenhower plaque with Utah Beach museum behind |
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| vintage jeep parade |
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| kids warm in bed at home (Normandy home, not home-home-home) |
Omaha Beach
After we brought home food for the kids (we literally had nothing left to eat) we all loaded up to drive along the beach sites at Omaha Beach. Pointe de Hoc is the main position the Germans used to defend Omaha Beach from attack. There are several cement bunkers or "pillboxes" from which the Germans monitored the shorelines & directed the huge guns that sat further back in the tree line. It was interesting to see the huge pits in the earth from the thousands of allied bombs.
Next we visited the largest cemetery in the area, the Normand American Cemetery & Memorial, maintained by the US...
(our pics coming soon)
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| aerial view of the Normany American Cemetery (yes, a web pic) |
D-Day Documentary
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