Je l'ai écrit le 29 septembre 2012
This has been one of the most peaceful and overwhelming experiences I think I've ever had. I've never been a really emotional person, but as I get older I've noticed I'm getting more and more sappy by the day. I don't know how I feel about it yet. : )
Yesterday was incredible. We started at Gold beach where we saw the pieces of the concrete bridges that allowed the military to get tanks and other vehicles on to the beach. When we first got there, the tide was in so far--possibly the smallest “beach” I've ever seen--but after about an hour (and lunch) I was able to walk out (I think I was the only one in our group to do this) and touch one of these massive pieces. They were broken down, covered in seaweed, but I'm grateful to whomever decided to leave them after the war. Being able to see and touch things from our past makes it all so much more real/easier to understand.
Next – on to see the “pill boxes”. I knew this trip was going to be an emotional one, but honestly I wasn't as sad at Gold beach as I expected to be. The pill boxes definitely changed that. These cannon machine bunker things made everything even more real. These cannons look out over the ocean and can hit a target 1-5 miles away. Doc H said around 5 miles, but then I thought I heard someone say only a mile...I have no idea. Regardless...it's just so crazy to think about the damage those things caused.
Next – Normandy cemetery. I couldn't really visualize 9,000 graves until we walked around a corner and saw all the white crosses perfectly aligned, going on for what seemed like forever. One of the hardest things about seeing that many graves is knowing that they only represent 1/3 of the ones that could have/should have been there. I almost teared immediately, but not wanting anyone to see my tears, I held it in. It was such a somber environment that we all naturally just walked away from the group and it felt like we all had the cemetery to ourselves. I don't think I saw another person from my group for about an hour or so. Each cross is carved with the name, hometown, and date of death for each soldier. On the back at the very bottom of the grave marker is their dog tag number. My favorite ones were the ones with no name. I can't remember the exact quote but it says something like “here in glory lies a comrade known but to god”. Seeing those definitely tugged at my heart. The ones that really got to me though were those with the rank of PFC. That was my rank in the Guard and I was only 17. I was still a baby then. I don't think I really realized how young most of those soldiers were until I saw that rank. That was really hard to take and I definitely lost it. I've never been a particularly patriotic person, but you can't go there and not feel so much pride and respect for all the people who willingly sacrificed themselves to help others--almost entirely for people they didn't even know. I don't know how much time we spent there, but it wasn't enough and was way too much all at the same time. I definitely got my emotional butt kicked yesterday.
Next – Point du Hoc which is where the land has been preserved and looks exactly as it did during WWII. Seeing this after visiting the pill boxes was incredible because we really got to see the damage those cannons did. I don't know that there was a single flat spot of earth in the entire area. The craters were at least 2-3 people deep and probably 4-5 wide and EVERYWHERE. It was a pretty devastating place. The last place we visited was Omaha beach. The tide was out when we arrived and the shoreline was at least half a mile from the place highest on the beach where the water hits. I have never seen a beach so far receded. It was a little crazy. And I guess by a little, I really mean a lottle.
I have never been so overwhelmed by my emotions. Even though we were mostly on our own in the cemetery, I think most, if not all, of us were experiencing the same emotions and thinking about the same things. We were able to experience this in our own ways, but we were still part of an incredible group. I've only known these kids a few weeks, but already I feel like I know them better and I'm closer with them than I am with some of my friends at home.
Vous êtes les meilleurs amis. Merci à vous.
Merci à Annie pour les photos.
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