A surrender at Normandy

On our previously mentioned 45 minute flight from England to France, Andrea carried a giant, 600 page paperback book onboard. Our British seatmate took one look at it and said to Andrea, "you must be expecting a very long flight". The British are full of one-liners and their quick sense of humor is one of my favorite things about them. My other loves include their hand pumped ale and the proverbial British stiff upper lip. We are talking about a country that stayed on a rationing system after WWII for 11 years -- and as far as I can tell no one seemed to mind. They even have a phrase for it -- Keep Calm and Carry On. I admire the attitude and had assumed that at least some of it would have rubbed off on me in the past 3 years. But it took less than 48 hours in France to realize this wasn't so. It was cold in France -- just about freezing to be precise, with a steady 20 mph wind. A strong breeze is fine in Aruba or Hawaii, but less so in northern Europe during March -- and I was not happy about it. I've read that the Nazis took France in 4 weeks -- if the invasion took place during a cold winter, it becomes easier to see why (sacre bleu, we surrender!)

But we bundled up -- and the plain truth is that Normandy is one of the most awe inspiring places I have ever been. You can walk, as we did, into the bomb craters at Pointe du Hoc, or climb inside the giant German gun emplacements at Longues sur Mer. But most impressive is Omaha. The beach is massive -- maybe 2 miles long -- remarkably flat with low cliffs just ashore. You can picture the German guns creating absolute hell from above. Ten kilometers to the west, we lost just 12 soldiers during the initial storming at Utah -- but here at Omaha over 1,000 American lives were lost on the beach during the morning of 6 June 1944. The American cemetery above Omaha is staggering. Perhaps "Saving Private Ryan" creates a glimpse -- but walking amongst the gravestones is unforgettable. Some lost their lives on 6 June, some in the weeks and months after. The names from New York are often Italian, the names from Texas and Georgia are often southern. And most of them were predictably young -- 18, 19, 20 years old. Scattered amongst them are the unknowns, their graves marked simply as "Here rests in honored glory, a comrade in arms known but to God". Most impressive to me is how perfectly the whole thing is constructed. Stand anywhere amongst the graves and slowly rotate -- from every possible angle, the tombstones are perfectly aligned. The uniformity of the place is amazing, the upkeep is magnificent -- it makes you very proud to be American. There will shortly be pictures on our Picasa website -- but do yourself a favor and go see it for yourself.