Normandy is a beautiful region of Northwest France. A place with erratic weather that holds many of France's most treasured places and produces some of its finest commodities.
For the rest of the world, Normandy may be most well-known for D-Day, when the Allies successfully pulled off the largest amphibious military assault in history.
It's a very overwhelming experience visiting the beaches. It's easy to feel as though you know WWII history and the events that took place. We're briefly taught what happens and the significance of the Normandy invasion and the United States fighting in Europe, but visiting the beaches and learning from the place it happened is life-altering.
There were so many factors that had to go right for the Allied invasion to succeed. They had to wait for the proper weather, which in Normandy is difficult in itself-it rains a lot, it's humid, and then, of course, there are the beaches, which are natural fortresses on their own.
Being there and witnessing how large and open the beach is, and how the soldiers were easy targets for the Germans, who were comfortably stationed beyond the dunes, was unfathomable. I wondered if it felt like a suicide mission for the first wave of men whose mission was to secure the intimidating coast.
The beaches and the memorials reveal how difficult this invasion was and the great sacrifice that went into fighting for the greater good. The cemeteries are the epitome of this remembrance.
I silently walked through 9400 graves in the American Cemetery, reading the names and states of where these men lived before entering the war. 9400 young lives were taken too soon because of hate, narcissism, and greed.
It was emotional, but I managed to hold it together until the Canadian Cemetery.
The Canadians lost about 2000 men, and their graves are different from the US. They included ages and had quotes that I presume were approved by their families.
There was one in particular- the headstone of a 24-year-old man, and on it was written, "Remember me in your prayers. Don't cry, Mom."
I lost it.
Maybe it was the culmination of seeing another young person who gave his life, maybe it was the selflessness this soldier had in knowing death was very real but showed concern for his family. Almost as if he knew he would die, he knew his mother would be devastated and he didn't want her to cry. It was a combination of magnanimity and love.
That tombstone will stay with me for the rest of my life.
To say visiting the D-Day beaches and cemeteries was humbling would be an understatement.
There's such importance to learning and understanding the details of history, to visit these places and comprehend- in painful detail- why battles like those of Normandy were so crucial, and even more, to respect those who have died by constantly fighting for a better world and to never let this history repeat itself.
This is dedicated to both of my grandfathers who served in the war, and my Great-Uncle Dom who specifically fought at Normandy.
Comments