Reblogging: A poignant reminder… A wonderfully beautiful although sobering post.
The American Cemetery in Normandy
On this 75th anniversary of D-Day, I wanted to share some of the pictures from our visit to Normandy in 2014, shortly after the 70th anniversary. Scores of WWII veterans who were part of Operation Overlord have passed away since then. It’s highly doubtful that more than a handful of them will be with us to observe the 80th anniversary.
My visit to Normandy was one of the most moving experiences of my life. I actually have tears in my eyes right now as I type this. I struggle to comprehend the terror so many young men experienced that June morning 75 years ago. And how many fathers, uncles, grandfathers never were because they fell as young men on a beach in France to defend the world against unspeakable evil. And how many mothers and fathers never knew what happened to their sons because their…
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Poignant indeed. I have been to Normandy a few times, and also to the WW1 cemeteries and memorials in northern France and Belgium. They are even more overwhelming. The casualty figures for D-Day are terrible, but compared to the WW1 casualties, they are huge. This for example, from July, 1916.
The first day of the Battle of the Somme, in northern France, was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army and one of the most infamous days of World War One. On 1 July 1916, the British forces suffered 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 fatalities.
And that was just British figures, not including French and German losses.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Sorry, that reads wrong. Should be, ‘But not compared to WW1 casualties, which were huge’.
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A poignant post, indeed. Our visit to the Normandy beaches some years ago brought similar thoughts. Never again, I hopel
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So very moving Maggie. My Dad was in Europe for WWII but would never speak about any of his experiences. That kind of tells me alot. War is SO horrible, I pray we never have to experience it again, and yet so many countries are experiencing their own terrors constantly. Breaks my heart that there is never just PEACE.
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My Dad was in the Royal Canadian Airforce and was in Europe during WWII. I have his logbook and it sends chills down my spine when I read entries like: Search & rescue; wreckage discovered, no survivors.
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indeed a poignant post, Maggie. never been to Normandy but i’ve been to a somewhat similar site of unimaginable horror and evil. i hope that these horrific events will never, ever happen again. i always pray for peace.
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