Normandy D-Day June 6, 1944

The visit to Normandy was amazing and very moving. Just some facts before the photos: there are 9,387 graves, 45 pairs of brothers and one father and son (Franklin Roosevelt’s son and grandson) and 151 Stars of David amid the crosses. Our guide said that many of the Jewish soldiers were afraid to state their religion in case they were captured by the Germans. The headstones are in perfectly symmetrical rows overlooking the Atlantic Ocean in a westerly direction – facing back to America. Most of the photos do not need a caption from me.

I guess this photo needs a caption – these are the other folks that were part of the tour. All of them very nice and from the US.

Monument to the Normandy operation. D-Day took place on June 6th. It was low tide which meant that the soldiers had a long amount of beach to cover to get to safety and were easy for the Germans to pick off. Low tide also meant a full moon which was needed for the paratroopers who were to land at 12:00 am. 23,400 Paratroopers began landing.

There were 5 landing areas and this shows the British, Canadian and US beaches.

There are many German bunkers and trenches that have been preserved.

This bunker was very large. Several rooms and some prison cells for captured soldiers.

This is a monument that President Reagan had installed at Omaha Beach on the 40th anniversary of D-Day in memory of the Rangers who took the cliffs and began to take out the Germans.

After Paris and Normandy, I headed to Aachen, Germany (ah-ken). A nice little town but it didn’t seem to have a lot to see. Walked around a bit but it was very cold and rainy and windy. I liked my room though at the Bensons Hotel which was just a few blocks from the train station. Very nice folks at the hotel. I did a lot of reaching. 🙂