60th Anniversary Normandy Invasion

Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours ^ | 04/20/2004 | Euro-American Scum

[BluSky]

So very true!

[.38sw]

Wish I could. My mother has been there. Her brother died on D-Day. He was in the Air Force, and his plane went down over the English channel.

[The Right Stuff]

I am very envious. We whizzed right past Normandy on the Euro Train on our way to Paris last summer, but it didn't stop. I would LOVE to be there for this anniversary. Please give our heartfelt thanks to every veteran you encounter. We would all be there with you if we could.
TRS

[Euro-American Scum]

Please give our heartfelt thanks to every veteran you encounter. We would all be there with you if we could.

Will do.

[Ready4Freddy]

A few links I've found re: events in Normandy for the 60th Anniversary:

Official Site

VFW Article w/ info

BluSky, the Official Site lists many events prior to June 4-7, may be of interest to you.

My Uncle, his wife, and a few friends are staying in Caen. My sisters, niece & I are staying at a B&B in Villerville, ~40 miles away. Gonna be crowded, prolly horrible traffic up & down the Normandy coast, but as Euro-American Scum said, I would not miss this (probable) last chance to attend an Anniversary w/ my uncle for the world.

He went back for the first time 2 years ago, went to London first to look up old friends he made while stationed there for 2 years before the invasion. I asked him if he was going to take the train via the Chunnel, he replied "No, I want to take a boat, like the last time".

[chimera]

Thanks for your participation in keeping their memory alive. Visit Utah beach if you can and send a note about your impressions of the place. My father went ashore there the morning of D-Day, second wave of infantry. He would never talk to me about it except to say that what he remembered seeing was "debris and bodies". I understand from reading that the beaches there weren't as "hot" as at Omaha, but it wasn't a walk in the park, either. I should make the trip myself but don't know if I'll ever be able to. But I'll do what I can to honor my father's memory, as well as that of those who served there and paid the price for freedom and victory.

[Ready4Freddy]

Indeed they were & are, Euro-American Scum. At 22, my Uncle Bill was the 'old man' in his unit.

[Euro-American Scum]

Thanks for your participation in keeping their memory alive. Visit Utah beach if you can and send a note about your impressions of the place.

The actual anniversary day -- June 6 -- will probably be so choked with visitors as to make free roaming impossible. That's why we've got seven days scheduled in the Normandy area.

One of my personal "must see: areas is Brecourt Manor -- where Easy Company, 506th PIR assaulted the German artillery garrison firing on Utah Beach. Time permitting, I'll get there (Utah).

Ste. Mere-Eglise is another priority site, as is Carentan, Point de Hoc, Omaha, the American cemetery, Pegasus Bridge. Too much to see in too short a time. But I don't figure to make it back there anytime soon, so this figures to be it.

[Euro-American Scum]

Indeed they were & are, Euro-American Scum. At 22, my Uncle Bill was the 'old man' in his unit.

Consider this: The men who crossed those beaches -- and not just in Normandy but all over Europe and everywhere in the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa -- were the children of the Depression.

Think about that. As children they were, in all probability dirt poor, poorly clothed, marginally educated (not all, but many), undernourished and underfed. And yet, as adults, they weathered a firestorm of military might and beat it back everywhere they encountered the enemy. And there's no way they could have accomplished this without being chosen by God and empowered by His Holy Spirit.

I am so proud of my father's generation, and all the men who served in it, I just can't tell you.