Manny, Kathy, and Alex: June 6, 2009

Today is the 65th anniversary of The Longest Day: June 6, 1944. D-Day. The invasion of Normandy by 165,000 Allied forces. The greatest amphibious landing in all of history, and the beginning of the end of WWII in Europe. Kathy and I had the supreme honor of making it to Normandy back when we lived in Europe. To say it was 'life changing' might seem a bit trite, so you'll just have to believe me. Mesmerizing. Haunting. Profoundly sad, like in the pit of your stomach sad. And yet, above all else...peaceful. Peaceful. As if, after all these years, all the evil unleashed has finally, finally, spent its course. I know that most of you will never have the opportunity to go like we did. But, if there's even a small chance, I would strongly urge you to make the time and effort. You will truly leave a changed person.

So to honor the 65th anniversary, I've assembled just a few pictures from our trip. You'll see each subheading start with pics taken that day (taken from the web; all rights reserved for the rightful owners), followed by my own. There's simply too much ground to cover, so I'll only hit some highlights.

Utah Beach
Utah Beach was the westernmost landing of the five beaches, and where we started our day. The landings were done at low tide, so that the landing craft could avoid getting impaled on the obstacles.

Of course, that meant even more beach to run up, all under a hail of fire and shrapnel.

Utah Beach today, just beyond the bluff:

High tide hides most of the sand here; makes it look almost quaint. It's hard to believe this was one of the famous landing beaches looking at it like this. And yet....

Point du Hoc
If you aren't familiar with the history of Point du Hoc, it's worth a moment to become familiar with it (a great synopsis can be found here). 225 Army rangers climbed a 100-foot cliff, straight up, under fire, to knock out huge German guns threatening to derail the entire invasion. The entire area was repeatedly bombed and shelled. The fight was desperate, and the Americans were almost thrown back over the cliff repeatedly. In the end, the Americans suffered 70% casualties, but prevailed by the skin of their teeth. To this day, the craters created by all that ordnance has been left as is, as a memorial to the bravery of those who scaled the cliffs and held off 5 German counterattacks.

And today (this pic not mine):

The cliffs today:

A peaceful, impromptu lunch, amidst the ruins of war:

Omaha Beach
If you've seen Saving Private Ryan, then you know enough. Omaha Beach was the most fiercely defended stretch of the entire Norman coast. A still from the movie:

And, amazingly, a handful of photos survive from that fateful day:

65 years later, the ghosts remain. It takes no effort at all to re-imagine the red waves crashing onto the human dunes of broken bodies. When you close your eyes, you can easily hear the explosions, the incessant machine gun fire, the endless screams of the wounded. They're still there. And they're still very real.

Here is Dog Green sector, made famous in Saving Private Ryan:

German bunkers remain, even though long silent:

And then we saw the most remarkable thing. The most normal thing in the world: a family spending a day at the beach, lunch in a bag, toys at the ready. On Omaha Beach. Truly, the sands of time have come all the way through the hourglass of horror and war.

The Normandy American Cemetery
The story of D-Day always ends on the bluffs of Colleville-sur-Mer, overlooking Omaha beach below. Temporary graves dotted the entire coast of northwest France before this location was chosen for the 9,387 souls who weren't re-interred back in the States.

Entering the new cemetery immediately grabs your attention and instantly focuses your thoughts, your mood. This is no typical war memorial. This is no typical cemetery.