Saint Mere Eglise and Normandy, France (May 11, 2012)

We continued our adventures in France with Mike and Corri Palmer - leaving le Mont St. Michel we had a short drive to Saint Mere Eglise.  Here are some pictures of the French countryside.

The pods in the tree are mistletoe.  It eventually saps all the nutrients out of the tree and will kill the tree if not removed.  We saw trees like this along the highways of France.

A small town we drove through.

The Church in Saint Mere Eglise - on the steeple there is a parachute caught and a soldier dangling.  A close-up is shown below.

Saint Mere Eglise was one of the first places the paratroopers landed to start the D-Day invasion in World War II.  A soldier actually landed like this.  After getting shot in the foot by the Germans, he played dead, which saved his life.  This is portrayed in the movie "The Longest Day" starring John Wayne.

This is a picture of the soldier who was caught on the steeple when he visited the site later in life.  He's pointing to the place where his parachute caught the steeple.

 Inside the church.

A monument celebrating the landing of the paratroopers and the subsequent liberation of the area.  The French detested the German occupation.  They had a very active underground organization to help in the defeat of the Germans.  They were very thankful for the efforts of the Allied Forces in their liberation.

There is a museum opposite the Church where the paratrooper is shown that commemorates the liberation.  Flags of the Allied Forces are shown.

 

A monument celebrating the paratroopers.  They started the invasion in the middle of the night, before the sea invasion began the next morning.  There was a death rate of close to 50% for a couple of the airborne divisions.

From inside the museum. The roof is designed to represent a parachute.

We purchased some of the crickets shown on the left.  Mike and I used them to hurry on Diane and Corri when they took too long taking pictures!  It gave us a fun diversion.

A plaque celebrating the heroism of the paratroopers who liberated Saint Mere Eglise.

A view of the downtown area of Saint Mere Eglise today.

We next went a short distance the the Normandy Memorial and Cemetery.  We first toured the museum that gave a background and history of the invasion.  In the initial planning it was a small mission, but as months of planning progressed it evolved into a major mission.  It caught the Germans by surprise and started the invasion that led to the eventual end of World War II in Europe.

We are at Omaha Beach as shown on this map.  There were five other beaches in the vicinity where the troops came ashore.

We hiked down to Omaha Beach where the Allied Forces came aground the morning after the paratroopers landed.  It was very humbling to visualize them landing here and having to fight their way up to the top of the hill where the Germans were showering them with gunfire.  The beach was covered with German booby-traps, and as the troops climbed the hillside they encountered swamps and very dense vegetation.

A reflecting pond which is part of the cemetery at the top of the hill above the beach.

The cemetery sits in a peaceful location looking out over the beach where so many died.

A view of the grave markers.  The Star of David is for the Jewish soldiers, and a cross for all others.

Most of the grave markers have names on them, but some of the soldiers could not be identified so they are identified like this one.

Those who received the Medal of Honor have a gold star and gold writing to make them more visible.

Over 9,000 American soldiers are buried here, and there are more cemeteries like this throughout Europe.  It was good to take a few hours and honor those who gave their lives so that we might enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today.  Thanks to those like Mike Palmer who have been deployed in the Armed Forces and risked their lives for us.

From Normandy we departed for Paris, a four hour drive.