We Remember . . .

In 2011, we were fortunate to be able to visit Normandy and "The Beaches" and The American Cemetery.    It certainly is hallowed ground.     I'm sharing my first post on this, the Anniversary of D-Day:

Those men who landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.    It certainly changed the course of the War, it was the beginning of the liberation of France and it cost us dearly in lives lost.

We've been  to Normandy --

A view of Omaha beach from the German view.     The day we were there was quite like the day in June in 1944 . . .

And the beach itself.

Approximately 12,000 Americans lost their lives on this beach.  

And at first were buried here.

Very near Omaha Beach, this first burial site.

I Stand Here Now

I stand here now

Amongst . . .brave men

With whom . . . I've stood before

The last time . . . when we landed

On June 6th of '44

Back then . . .we were all young men

Eighteen or little more

Their lives . . .cut short . . . that morning

On this distant . . . windswept shore

I stand here now . . . and wonder

What would they . . . have become

Had they survived. . . that morning

Their lives . . .  allowed full run

One thing. . . I know . . .for certain

Of which . . . there is . . .no doubt

These brave young men

My pals . . .from then

Would be . . .old

White haired . . .with wrinkled brow

Just like me . . .

As I stand here. . . now

                   Tony Chapman

The American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach . . . American Soil, the burial place of  Nine Thousand Three Hundred and Eighty-seven American Heroes . . .

Some known only to God.

It is eerie being in Normandy, visiting the ceremony and the beaches.    The stretch of beach certainly made a difference in history.    And the brave men who were up to the task knowing full well that they might never return.

We salute all the military who participated in D Day seventy-one years ago.    You certainly understood that "freedom isn't free"!