104 Steps of Respect in Normandy, France
Monday Jul 21, 2008
As I announced in an earlier post, my uncle, aunt, wife and me went on a 4-day trip to Normandy in France. The primary objective was to visit as many of the sites and museums as possible, and we succeeded, much to the occasional despair of the ladies. However, there still remains a lot to be seen, but that can always be arranged.
Here is an overview of the sites and museums we visited:
- The Memorial in Caen
- The American cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer
- Musee Memorial Omaha Beach
- Pointe du Hoc
- Dead Man's Corner
- Musee du Debarquement Utah Beach
- Batterie de Crisbecq
- Musee du Debarquement Arromanches
All of these sites were amazing, and I learned a lot of new things from seeing the pictures, models, the personal belongings of the soldiers back then, and so much more. During these visits I was so enthralled in what I saw and heard, that I hardly took any pictures. Fortunately my wife was not so impressed with everything, so she did take the most of the pictures I can share via my Facebook page.
There were a lot of things that crossed my mind, but the one thing that I always kept wondering is how it must have been back in June 1944 for the thousands and thousands of men that jumped and landed into Normandy, and for the defenders of the coast. There is only one thing that consistently came back, and that is respect.
And this feeling was most present when I was standing on Omaha Beach itself, and looking up to what the US soldiers faced that day. If you look at the picture above with the current scene, and try to imagine what it must have been like approaching the coast under enemy fire, it makes one very very silent. And hence the title of this post, as it currently takes 104 steps to climb back from the beach to above, and my respect for the liberators of Europe only grew with each step I took.
Amazing experience, and one I will always remember...
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