German Cemetery

 

This was a German Cemetery we had on our list to visit. It has over 20,000 burried and approx 13,000 are unknown graves. Dog tags were used to identify soldiers, but the Germans didn't put two tags on each chain like the Americans and other countries. So they would pull off the tag to notify family, but then the body was left unidentified. In a way this is very sad. Each grave marker has two names on it as well and then there are lines of trees with names of soldiers whose remains were not found. It was very humbling to visit this cemetery and see that those who died even on the German side are still being cared for today. The Germans do not provide funding for the upkeep of their cemeteries so it is not uncommon to see school children cleaning and caring for the flowers and grass. Donations by locals are used to pay for things so it is done very differently. Still these dead are honored and it was something I am glad we didn't miss.

Pointe du Hoc

This is a little slide show I put together for Pointe du Hoc. Zach was telling me some of the story. I guess there were rather large guns on top of this cliff that needed to be taken out. The 2nd Ranger Battalion had the task of scaling the 100 foot cliffs while under fire to take out the guns. Once on top they found the guns had been moved further back, but were still met with a number of Germans not willing to give up the spot. The ground is still scarred and wavy from the bombings and attacks that took place. It was amazing to look out and wonder what it was like to climb to the top while be shot at! The view is breath taking, but to think so many lives were lost it is also very sad.

Aromanches and Gold Beach

I was going to try and put the pictures in order of how we saw things, but it's getting too complicated and I am losing my mind! So I am now just trying to make sure I get something from each place instead! This is in the town of Aromanches that lies along Gold beach. After storming the beaches they had to get more equipment on land so built these docks. When the tide is out you can walk up to the ones closest to land, but unfortunately we hit it during high tide!

Normandy American Cemetery and Omaha Beach

 

This is a beautiful cemetery! It has 9,387 military who died during the D-Day invasion. It sits on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel. There are also 1,557 names enscribed on a memorial for those that remains were not found to be burried. President Theodore Rooselvelt has two sons burried here as well. Clinton Roosevelt was a pilot killed in WWI. His brother Theodore Roosevelt Jr was a Brigadere General killed in WWII. They brought Clinton from a WWI cemetery to lay next to his brother. There are also two brothers that died a day apart that lay side by side. The mother was notified on the same day of their deaths. A third son was captured and later released. A fourth son was sent home. These were the brothers that inspired the movie Saving Private Ryan although their last name was Niland.

The beach has some old German bunkers you can explore. There are some memorials and trails you can take up to the cemetery. The boys had fun playing in the water....well Tyler and Ryan did. I am not sure Cody did. The beaches were not his favorite thing. We collected a bottle of sand and some shells. We did this for each beach.

Home away from home

I am trying to mix this up a bit so it's not collage after collage or slide show after slide show! We did so much in this short trip and I want to share as many pictures as I can so it will take me a few days to get it all organized. These are the only two pictures we have of our humble abode. We have stayed in these little mobil homes before, but this was the smallest one. Still it is better to have than just a plain hotel room with a tiny fridge. The kids love the bunk beds when we stay in these and always want to stay longer. We got to swim once, the other days we were just too busy and the pool closed by the time we got back. This was after the first day so you can see we learned to be better with our sunblock!

Meuse Argonne American Cemetery

We started our journey not planning to see anything along the way, but the closer we got to the Meuse Argonne the more antsy Zach got so I knew we had to stop. He has been trying to get to this cemetery not far over the boarder of France for some time now. This cemetery was establised in October of 1918 so this is a WWI cemetery. There are 14, 246 buried here with 954 names on a wall that bodies were never recovered to burry. This is the largest American cemetery in Europe. It is beautiful!

Conversation with Cody

While in Normandy Cody was not up for going into every place and we kept the dog with us because we were worried about the heat. So Zach and I traded a lot. While sitting with Cody this conversation took place:

Cody "You have to keep it in your mind and your heart" as he points to his head and chest.

Me "You have to keep what in your mind and heart? Was this from your primary lesson Sunday?"

Cody "That is what Brother Jensen said at church mom. You have to keep it in your mind and your heart. Your mind is next to your brain in your head."

Me "Oh did Brother Jensen teach you that?"

Cody "yes. Your brain is for thinking."

Me "We do use our brains to think. What about our minds?"

Cody "Oh it just sits there." said very matter of factly!

I am trying not to die of laughter at this point. Then he says "And your heart keeps your blood in you. That is what Brother Jensen tells me."

I am glad he listens at church! Now I just have to find out what he is keeping in his mind and heart!