Normandy, France - D-Day Beaches

I signed up for a day trip to the Normandy beaches. One of the major reasons I wanted to come to Europe was to see the D-Day beaches in person. I had to get up at 6am to catch the appropriate trains and arrive in Bayeux. There were 8 of us in the tour group along with our guide. We took a van to the beaches and our guide drove very fast. Our guide was very big into history and referred to movies like Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and the Longest Day to tell us the real stories.

After an awkward drive out of Bayeux, I introduced myself to the others in the group, who were all Americans, and then everyone introduced themselves and it became a much friendlier bunch and the rest of the trip was more enjoyable. There was a couple from Tucson, Arizona with 2 daughters and a boyfriend. The other 2 were from New York. It had some great conversations with the guide and was able to give more details at some of the stops. My history minor and hours of watching the History Channel came in handy that day.

For our first stop, our guide told us we were going to the moon. It was the point that oversaw both Utah and Omaha beaches. It had been so heavily bombed during the war that none of the earth remained in its natural place. The U.S. rangers had to climb 100 foot cliffs to reach the German pill boxes and entrenchments. The weather forecast had called for overcast skies but while at the point and on the beaches it was sunny and beautiful.

It gave me a weird feeling to stand on Omaha Beach. It was hard to imagine what had happened there over 60 years ago. The loss of life was unimaginable. By noon on D-Day, over 1,000 casualties had occurred on Omaha beach alone. By the end of the day, there were over 2,500 casualties. It was not low tide while I was there but the water was still about 100 yards away from the defenses. When the soldiers landed, at low tide, they were anywhere from 400 to 500 yards away. I can’t even imagine having to make that charge through machine gun fire on a wet beach with all of your gear on, let alone take the enemy position. We saw the point of the first break through and visited the museum.

We spent about an hour in the museum and when we came out, it was about 15 degrees colder with real dense fog. We could no longer see the beach. Luckily, our only stop left was the American cemetery. The fog gave the cemetery a surreal feel as if to focus your attention on the graves and nothing in the distance. I found the grave of one Phelan and was able to visit it. The American cemetery is actual U.S. soil and everything inside was very similar to my visits to Gettysburg or Capitol Hill. The name Saving Private Ryan was chosen because Ryan is the most common name in the cemetery. Miller is the second most common.

My trip to Normandy was unforgettable and it is another reason why this trip was a great decision.
The American Cemetery at Normandy

This is the view from the edge of the water to the defenses on Omaha Beach. It was low tide when our soldiers landed. This picture is about 100-150 yards out, the soldiers landed about 400-500 yards out and had to take these defensive positions charging through machine gun fire. Some German guns began to melt or broke because they were too hot after hours of continual firing.

Defensive position on Omaha Beach.

Pointe du Loc. This was the most heavily bombed area of Normandy. The entire area is covered with craters but I did not lay down in any craters to have my picture taken.

I found the grave of one Phelan at the American Cemetery.