An thus began my father's great love of the Norman people and his scholastic study of the D-Day landings.
Ste Mere-Eglise is recognized as the first town liberated by Americans. On the night of June 5, 1944 and early morning of June 6, the 82nd Airborne began dropping into the area. The people of the town have never forgotten.
In the church are two stained glass windows, one with the Mother Mary holding a baby and paratroopers dropping around her. The other from the 25th anniversary in 1964 saying "They have come back." This one has an image of Saint Michael, the patron saint of the paratroopers.
The church is famous for its depiction of Private John Steele, the paratrooper who became hung up on the church steeple. He survived the war and visited the town on other occasions.
Not too far from Ste Mere-Elise is the La Fiere Bridge over the Merderet River. This became a strategic bridge to take in order to gain control of the Cherbourg Peninsula. While the ending battle in "Saving Private Ryan" is fictional, the screenwriter based much of the story on the battle at the La Fiere Bridge. The original bridge is still standing and there is a wonderful memorial to the men of the 82nd.
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| La Fiere Bridge |
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| "Iron Mike" - Memorial to the men of the 82nd Airborne and the battle at La Fiere Bridge |
We arrived at Utah Beach just before the tide began to come in. The prevailing winds come from the west, creating low places parallel to the beach called "runnels" with sand bars on the side opposite to the beach. During the landings, some landing craft came upon the sandbars and the pilot, thinking they had come ashore, lowered the ramp. Many men died as they came off the ramp with 75 lbs of equipment and drowned in the runnels.
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| Looking outward, you can see the beach, then the runnel, and then the sandbar. |
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| Utah Beach looking westward |
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| Each cut in the dune, made by American forces to get off the beach, is named after a soldier who died in the landing. |
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| Utah Beach from the top of the dunes. Compared to the photo of the runnels above, you can see the tide is beginning to come in. |
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| B-26 Bomber used in the assault on Utah Beach. These had great success allowing the forces to more easily execute the invasion. |
In the small village of Angoville au Plain, one medic and one stretcher carrier dropped in with the 101st Airborne to set up an aide station in the church. The two treated wounded brought in from Utah Beach and other drop zones. German forces arrived, saw that the medic was treating Americans and Germans with equal care, and let them be. The towns people have paid homage to the two American care givers.
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All throughout the Normandy region are monuments to members of the liberating forces. They are numerous, well maintained, and well documented.
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| Memorial to the 101st Airborne, recognizable by the "Screaming Eagle" emblem. |
Lest we forget, the people of Normandy suffered terrible losses in the invasion; some as victims of bombings, others because they helped the Americans. In the town of Grainges, where Americans and Germans were coming together, the towns people sided with the Americans. In retaliation, the Germans massacred nearly everyone and burned the town, including burning some people in the church. The only building left standing was the church steeple. Rather than rebuild, the citizens left the steeple and rebuilt down the road.
Each day, there are many, many highlights unrelated to history. We are especially enjoying the younger generation being engaged and engaging. This will be a hard place to leave in a few days.
"Abigail, what are you going to do when we go home and do not have three hour dinners?"
"That is not going to happen. I have already converted."
Abigail is ten years old.
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