We were able to get out of Paris and do some exploration of the French country side this week (the French educational system was on break, and our school follows the same schedule). Our destination for this trip was the Normandy region, home of theD-Day beaches of World War 2. It is hard to know where to begin describing what we saw… Our first destination was Pointe du Hoc. Pointe du Hoc are cliffs that jet out into the English Channel where the Germans had positioned a battery of 150mm guns that threatened the landings on both Utah and Omaha Beaches. With the guns in tact, the landings at both beaches would have certainly failed. The 2nd Ranger Battalion was given the task of scaling the 100 ft. cliffs and destroying the guns. 225 Rangers began the operation. Only 90 lived. Yet the mission was accomplished.

 

Next, we went to Sainte Mère Église, the location of the 82nd Airborne jump into France. The 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were tasked with preventing German reinforcements from moving towards the D-Day beaches. Sainte Mère Église is the location of the church where John Steele’s parachute was caught on the church bell tower. He hung limply for several hours pretending to be dead before being taken captive by the Germans. He later escaped and rejoined his unit.

The following day we went to both Omaha and Utah Beaches. As we stood there looking out at the coast, we tried to envision what D-Day must have been like. We could not. General Eisenhower told the soldiers before they departed their stations across the Channel that the freedom depended on the success of the mission. All we could understand is that thousands of Americans, British, French, and Canadians gave their lives that day to stop the tide of oppression from spreading across the entire world.

This sacrifice was underscored again as we visited the American Military Cemetery in Normandy. More than 9,000 Americans are buried there. Words cannot describe how we felt.

After a few other stops at some Normandy landmarks, we stopped at another American Military Cemetery in Brittany on our way home. More than 4,000 Americans are buried there.

 

The trip was a great break from class for us. But more importantly, we were reminded of the enormous sacrifice paid by past generations. We are Christians first. But this trip was a powerful reminder of our responsibility to remember and honor those who gave everything for freedom.

Below are additional photos from the trip.