Normandy Beaches

Omaha Beach, site of the bloodiest fighting of the landings on the Normandy coast on D-Day, June 6, 1944. The American forces were the first to land at 6:30am here at Omaha Beach and adjacent Utah Beach. Pretty sobering.

Sign honoring US troops that conducted the landing - this is for the US Army 1st Infantry Division - the "Big Red One."
The 1st Infantry Division was the lead element that kicked off the invasion.

Monument at the spot on Omaha Beach where the first American troops landed at 6:30am on June 6.

One of the two US Army divisions that conducted the initial landing on Omaha Beach was the 29th Infantry Division.
The "Blue-Gray Division" was composed of troops from the Maryland National Guard and Virginia National Guard.

Omaha Beach

Omaha Beach

Les Braves Omaha Beach Memorial

Note the bunker built into the hillside overlooking the beach


Bunkers built into the hillside overlooking the beach

The bluffs overlooking Omaha beach

The bluffs overlooking Omaha beach

Sword Beach, the site of one of the British-Canadian landings on D-Day.
The Allies installed an artificial harbor here to land men, vehicles, and equipment.

The Longues-sur-Mer battery (German: Marineküstenbatterie (MKB) Longues-sur-Mer, also designated Widerstandsnest (Wn) 48) is a World War II German coastal artillery battery approximately half a mile north of the village of Longues-sur-Mer in Normandy. The battery is sited on a 60 m (200 ft) cliff overlooking the Baie de Seine and formed a part of Germany's Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications, between the Allied landing sectors of Gold Beach and Omaha Beach. The battery consisted of four 150mm cannons designed for German naval vessels. The barrels are 23 feet long, firing a 6-inch, 100-pound projectile to a range of almost 12 miles. It posed a threat to the D-Day fleet. It was put out of action by British troops on June 7.

Normandy American Cemetery

The 172-acre cemetery sits on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach, by far the bloodiest of five landing sites on the Normandy coast on D-Day, June 6th, 1944. American forces suffered over 4,000 casualties on Omaha Beach. There are 9,388 American soldiers buried here who died in the Allied liberation of France. The names of 1,557 names are carved on the walls in the Garden of the Missing behind the memorial. This is likely the quietest place in France, except for the 11:00am high-speed flyover by a French Air Force fighter jet paying respects, followed by the playing of the US national anthem.

Some of the graves of the 9,388 American military dead, mostly from the D-Day landings.

The Memorial

The statue is titled "The Spirit of the American Youth Rising from the Waves" - average age of those buried here is 24

At the daily ceremony at 11:00am, Emily and I, as veterans, were asked to lay the wreath at the base of the statue.
We were honored to do so.

Garden of the Missing - there are still 1,557 names on the panels

This chapel sits in the center of the acres of graves.

The flags represent the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and France
These are the countries whose forces conducted the D-Day landings at Normandy.

The ceiling of the chapel