Our next stop was at the American Cemetery at Normandy. I was so looking forward to seeing this piece of ground, but was not ready for what I saw. We got off the bus and walked down a little drive and the first thing I saw was the statue shown below. And then I looked to the left and that sight almost took my breath away. White crosses for pretty much as far as you can see, at least to the edge of the cliffs at the ocean side. If you did any homework before going here, and if you know anything about what took place on the beaches below and the surrounding countryside, seeing this place and walking among the first few rows, it's like a gut punch. The overwhelming weight of this sight demands that you stop, take a deep breath, and remember that each of these 9,385 markers was a person, a person who fought to keep us free, who fought against unimaginable horrors. The exact precision in which the crosses are lined across the field is a stark contrast to the chaos of those battles. But beyond all of that, it is just overwhelming knowing that each of these markers was a human being. Over the next few days, we were to see several cemeteries like this one, but this one woke me up.
I was surprised to find, as I walked around, that there are actually quite a few markers that indicated that the soldier buried there was unknown -- 307 Unknowns. I didn't know that prior to going there.
The Normandy American Cemetery is located in Colleville-sur-Mer. It is situated on 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,385 of our soldiers. There are 1,557 names on the wall by the statue denoting those who were missing in action, and there are 45 sets of brothers buried here.
As enormous and overwhelming as this place of honor was, it's hard to know that this wasn't all of it -- all of the war that was to consume and destroy a continent.
"Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier who died protecting it." (Unknown)
Hooah
(P.s. Here is a picture of the first burial place for Soldiers killed at Normandy. Didn't last long ans it quickly became overcome by sheer numbers.)
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