Between Point du Hoc and the other landing area's of D-Day, it's just a short drive by car. It's lovely. And you could walk the distance, easily, on the beach.
Omaha Beach Nov 12, 2011
Omaha Beach is where the Allied troops landed in droves. The weather had been bad, too foggy to land on the days prior to the sixth, like they were planning. I'm sure you know the story. It's tragic. It makes me cry just to think about it.
The beautiful place today, was once covered in bodies and blood of young Allied troops. The tide was out really far, like in these pictures. And these cliffs were covered with German soldiers, just waiting to kill anyone they could.
It was kind of weird to take a family picture here, but again - teaching the children about this is so important. The beach was very near empty on this day. Except for a couple of young girls taking pictures. The American one said, "We're both teachers here in France. I'm American and she's German. We wanted to take a picture together here at Omaha beach." I said, "It's pretty amazing how time changes all things, isn't it?"
It's a LONG way from the water to the saftey of the land ahead. A very long way. Which is why so very many young boys died that day. Lot's didn't even make it out of the water. Maybe just a step onto the sand. The beach was literally covered with bodies.
And today it's just a quiet strip of beach.
Again. I can't express my thanks enough to those who were willing, or not, - but did, fight for our freedoms here. If you ever get to France and find yourself with a rental car and a free day; sure the castles are amazing, and the wine country is breath taking. But as an American, this is a place not to be missed. It will leave an impression on you. One that you can't get reading in a book, or watching a movie. Those events happened here in real life. And history changed that day forever; this tragic day was the wonderful beginning to the end of dispair.
Omaha Beach is where the Allied troops landed in droves. The weather had been bad, too foggy to land on the days prior to the sixth, like they were planning. I'm sure you know the story. It's tragic. It makes me cry just to think about it.
The beautiful place today, was once covered in bodies and blood of young Allied troops. The tide was out really far, like in these pictures. And these cliffs were covered with German soldiers, just waiting to kill anyone they could.
It was kind of weird to take a family picture here, but again - teaching the children about this is so important. The beach was very near empty on this day. Except for a couple of young girls taking pictures. The American one said, "We're both teachers here in France. I'm American and she's German. We wanted to take a picture together here at Omaha beach." I said, "It's pretty amazing how time changes all things, isn't it?"
It's a LONG way from the water to the saftey of the land ahead. A very long way. Which is why so very many young boys died that day. Lot's didn't even make it out of the water. Maybe just a step onto the sand. The beach was literally covered with bodies.
And today it's just a quiet strip of beach.
Again. I can't express my thanks enough to those who were willing, or not, - but did, fight for our freedoms here. If you ever get to France and find yourself with a rental car and a free day; sure the castles are amazing, and the wine country is breath taking. But as an American, this is a place not to be missed. It will leave an impression on you. One that you can't get reading in a book, or watching a movie. Those events happened here in real life. And history changed that day forever; this tragic day was the wonderful beginning to the end of dispair.d-day photo courtesy of worldfamousphotos.com
1 comment:
AUGH! We should have gone here. But I would have wept for days.
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