Disney Magic 12nt. British Isles
Monday, July 10, 2017
Cruise Day 2 – Le Havre, France
weather: Normandy partly cloudy high 67 °F / 19 °C
DCL D-Day excursion (LH12) continued.........
The order in which this excursion travelled to each site was well planned.
First - explore the beautiful coastal town of Arromanches: rich with museums, shops, cafes and memorabilia.
Next - enjoy lunch at a local farmhouse and sample a taste of the region.
……all very amenable to visitors
and worked well to keep things in perspective as we moved on to the other side of the story:
Stops 3, 4 & 5 – visit among the American sector(s) of D-Day: Normandy American Cemetery / Omaha Beach / Pointe du Hoc
to pay respect to our U.S. soldiers in remembrance, sacred honor and dedication for their service and sacrifice as they bravely fought to liberate France during WWII.
…….followed by a long quiet 2 hr bus ride back to the ship……..
Tour stop #3 – The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial (Colleville-sur-Mer)
When I posted that tribute video earlier, I was surprised to learn just how many American Cemeteries there are overseas.
26 total are located in a foreign land or territory – all attended and maintained thru the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC):
https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/normandy-american-cemetery#.WsEgGmxdNZV
With 8 dedicated to WWI and 14 dedicated to WWII among them.
These cemeteries are permanent military burial grounds granted in perpetuity by respective host countries free of charge or taxation. (except the Philippines)
Background
- On D+2 (June 8) the U.S. Army created the American St. Laurent Cemetery adjacent to Omaha Beach to begin the burials of those who died in the past 36 hours. After the war, the cemetery was moved closer to the beach and rededicated as the Normandy American Cemetery.
- All temporary cemeteries not designated as permanent were disestablished by the War Department, and the remains permanently interred in accordance with the directions of the next of kin – who were given the option to repatriate their loved ones to the United States or have them buried at an American cemetery overseas.
- In a few instances the next of kin requested that isolated burials be left undisturbed, and assumed all responsibility for the care of the grave.
- ABMC’s World War I and World War II cemeteries are closed to further burials, except for the remains of American war dead recovered from time to time in the battle areas.
- Today there are 124,000 American war dead interred in these cemeteries – including 30,973 from World War I and 93,202 from World War II among them….….
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In retrospect, it seems such a small gesture having visited only this one American cemetery overseas. But I was honored and grateful to be here.
Their official visitors guide - 172.5 acres / Dedicated July 18, 1956
We were given an hour to spend here. Which is not enough time. So we had to forego the visitor building. (where Veterans can sign the Veteran's Book, and all others the main Visitors Book)
"Spend time at the visitor centre to hear the story of the battles for Omaha and Utah Beach. Personal accounts, photos, films, interactive displays and a variety of artefacts help to explain the history of the battles, and portray the bravery and sacrifice of the Allied soldiers fighting here."
This is not a small place.
The visitor center and restrooms are near the parking lot (seen on the far right in this aerial photo) and our guide advised to use the facilities first and catch up with the group at The Garden of the Missing.
We first approach
The Garden of the Missing with
The Memorial featuring the 22 foot bronze statue
"The Sprit of American Youth Rising From The Waves" in the background.
Missing in action are 1557 names engraved on these walls.
This is a very solemn peaceful place.
(view from
The Memorial looking out toward
The Chapel)
With grounds impeccably manicured and maintained.
- Architects for the cemetery's memorial features were Harbeson, Hough, Livingston and Larson of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
- The landscape architect was Markley Stevenson, also of Philadelphia.
We felt humbled to walk and pay our respects on dedicated U.S. land
"all of the crosses face West toward home"
"Each grave site is marked by a headstone of pristine white marble. 149 headstones of those of the Jewish faith are tapered marble shafts surmounted by a Star of David. Stylized marble Latin crosses mark all others."
9,387 Americans are buried here
Including:
- 3 Medal of Honor recipients (engraved in gold)
- 4 women - 3 women: Sgt. Dolores Browne, PFC Mary J. Barlow and Mary H. Bankston were killed in the same jeep accident on July 8, 1945. (All were members of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion – the 1st all-female, all African American battalion to serve overseas) The 4th woman: Elizabeth A. Richardson, was an American Red Cross volunteer killed in a plane crash near Rouen on July 25, 1945. (just over 2 wks. following the Jeep accident that claimed the lives of the other three)
- 2 sons of President Theodore Roosevelt: Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. - died of a heart attack in France July 12, 1944 (On D-Day, Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. led the first wave of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division’s landing at Utah Beach and earned the Medal of Honor) and Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt - Air Corps pilot, shot down and killed in action July 14, 1918 during WWI (in 1955 Quentin's body was exhumed from Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and reinterred at Colleville next to his brother)
- 1 father and son: Colonel Ollie W. Reed and First Lieutenant Ollie W. Reed, Jr. (both served in WWII. Col. Reed died from wounds suffered in Villebaudon, France on July 30, 1944. His son was killed in combat on July 5, 1944 near Riparbella, Italy and was placed beside his father in the Normandy American Cemetery in 1949)
- 45 sets of brothers - including 2 of the Niland brothers (portrayed in the movie Saving Private Ryan) 2nd Lt. Robert Niland was killed on D Day and Sgt. Preston Niland on June 7th. A third brother was thought killed in the Pacific, so the fourth was allowed home. However, the brother in the Pacific actually survived the war.
- Army Air Corps crew shot down over France as early as 1942
- and 307 servicemen who could not be identified.
(Reading these unidentified markers was one of the more difficult moments for me)
The cemetery borders on the left flank of Omaha Beach and overlooks the sector where the 1st Division landed on D Day.
We took pause here to look out from the American Cemetery and see what remained of a crippling WN 62 bunker sitting there nestled among kayaking and kite flying on Omaha Beach. very surreal indeed and an important reminder as we got ready to walk this shoreline.
next up. A spiritual walk on a sacred beach
