WWII Normandy Landing: Omaha Beach, the American Cemetery and Caen Memorial

Where did D-Day take place? Here is a map of Normandy (northern France)(click to make image bigger):


The field trip to the Caen WWII Memorial and the American Cemetery on Omaha Beach (Colleville-sur-Mer ) was a very moving experience. In fact, I have to admit I am surprised how emotional it was. There is a very nice museum in Caen with artifacts, history and short films. The films aren't silent, but there is no narration because they get visitors from all over the world who speak many different languages. They use real WWII footage with all its own sound (loud, bombs, planes, etc.) and occasional music. Perhaps I am older and more mature, but the images that I have seen before really struck me on this visit. War is horrible.

Trying to picture the thousands of soldiers, boats, amphibious crafts, planes and parachutes while staring at the tranquility of the English Channel was weird, for lack of a better term. It wasn't so much hard as it was incredible. This really happened, all these people really died right HERE in like 3 days. In the first 12 hours alone on D-Day (June 6, 1944) 10,370 soldiers were already dead. They called Omaha Beach the "bloody beach" for obvious reasons.

Anti-war as I am, I can see how people are genuinely moved when they come to places like this. The sacrifices that were made... Tens of thousands dead, towns destroyed. Will we never learn?


This famous image really stuck in my head: I tried to put myself on that ship, about to jump into the freezing waters (probably already turning red at that point) at 6am on a stormy day in June, 1944. Could you even imagine seeing a red sea?

Omaha Beach itself






The American Cemetery receives thousands of visitors each year. It covers almost 173 acres and contains 9387 graves and a wall of unknown/missing. For more information please visit their website: http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/no.php