Tag Archives: American Cemetery

Thinking of Our Veterans This #MemorialDay

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Memorial Day graphic

I’m thinking about the men in my family who served our nation on this Memorial Day.

Two of my ancestors fought for the Union during the Civil War: one from Pennsylvania (my dad’s side of the family) and the other for West Virginia (my mom’s side of the family.) Both were wounded, one at Gettysburg, the other at the Battle of the Wilderness.

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Memorial Day dates back to 1865, shortly after the end of the Civil War, when people in both North and South put decorations on the graves of those who fell in what is still the bloodiest war in American history. The holiday was called Decoration Day before the name was changed to Memorial Day.

My dad volunteered for service in World War II in August of 1942. He first tried to join the Navy as a Seabee, but was turned down for being underweight. He never was a large man, maybe 5’7″ tall. So he went across the hall to the Army Air Corps and enlisted. (He always said that in those days, the Army would take you if you could see light and hear thunder. He was quite the joker.) He worked on the ground crew of the bombers keeping the sights adjusted so the bombs would hit their target. He served first in North Africa and then in Italy.

My brother joined the Air Force right out of high school and served in the Pacific area as the Korean War was ending. I still have the doll he sent me from the Philippines.

In 2015 and again in 2016, I visited the Normandy landing beaches and the American cemetery in Colville. Learning about the D-Day landings and then seeing the rows of crosses really hits home the tremendous sacrifices made by our Allied soldiers that day. The experience is moving and humbling.

American cemetery

Grave markers at American cemetery, Colville, France

Wishing you all a joyful and meaningful Memorial Day.

Linda

Remembering the Normandy #D-Day Landing Beaches #WWII #TuesdayTravels

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Tuesday Travels

It has been seventy-three years since the Allies landed in France on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and still people travel to Normandy to see the beaches and visit the cemeteries.

My father served in North Africa and Italy during World War II, so I never planned to visit the D-Day beaches, but now I have done so twice. Once on a cruise around the British Isles, and again last October on a tour of Northern France. Both times I came away humbled by the sacrifices made there.

The D-Day invasion was a massive undertaking, with over 156,000 American, Canadian and British forces involved. Code named Operation Overlord, it was the largest amphibious landing in history.

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The father of one of the men are tour was an engineer, and one of the first to hit the beaches. The engineers were sent in first to clear the beaches of land mines, under enemy fire. There were many casualties, but his dad survived to tell the story. We were all impressed by his bravery under fire.

One of the most impressive sites is at Pointe du Hoc, the location of German bunkers that were shelled during the fighting before the Army Rangers climbed the cliffs to take the high ground. There’s a monument to them.

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The site has been pretty much left as it was after the battle, with the exception of the memorial and the grass and other plants that now grow there. It is a truly spectacular spot, with gorgeous ocean views. It’s hard to imagine what a hell it must have been seventy-three years ago.

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The most moving part of the day’s tour was the visit to the American Cemetery at Colville, not the only D-Day cemetery. On the way, we passed the site of the first American cemetery, now reduced to a single memorial stone. The Colville site is a beautiful cemetery, meticulously maintained. Gazing out at the rows and rows of grave markers, most with crosses on top, but some with Stars of David or crescents, drives home the extent of the sacrifices made that long-ago day, and the mere thought of it brings tears to my eyes.

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I’m feeling more poignant than usual this year, given the new cracks in the NATO Alliance that did much to stabilize the world order after World War II. I hope this will be a temporary rift between the US and our European friends and partners.

Linda

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