Jennifer Lambert

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You are here: Home / Military / Normandy Memorial Sites

Normandy Memorial Sites

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May 26, 2017 By Jennifer Lambert 11 Comments

We visited Normandy in 2016.

I want my children to understand Memorial Day. I don’t want them to grow up thinking it’s just a day off school or work, for barbecues and pools and parties.

I want them to understand the importance of all the men and women who died for our freedoms, that we too often take for granted.

I want them to appreciate all of America’s Allies and how the world can work together for peace. But sometimes, we come together in conflict.

And we must remember.

We visited Utah Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery, Omaha Beach, and Pointe du Hoc.

We first visited Utah Beach Museum and monuments.

Utah Beach Museum

It was one of the few sunny days of our trip. It was chilly but lovely.

Higgins Boat Monument at Utah Beach

The beach is beautiful now, but holds so much sad history.

Utah Beach

utah-beach

It’s hard to imagine all the lives lost on this beach.

We went to the Memorial Day service at the Normandy American Cemetery.

It was very emotional.

Normandy American Cemetery hosted its annual Memorial Day Ceremony on Sunday, May 29, 2016, at 10.30 am.

We got to stand right up at the railing!

front-row

SEE MY VIDEO.

Program:

Master of CeremoniesRené Huard, AOMDA
SuperintendentDaniel L. Neese
Deputy SuperintendentMichael Coonce
The Marseillaise and the Star Spangled Banner 
Welcoming RemarksDaniel Neese
Opening RemarksRené Huard
Opening PrayersFather Xavier Signargout, Diocese of Bayeaux and Lisieux
Capt. Gary P. Weeden, Command Chaplain of U.S. European Command
Rabbi Meyer Malka, Jewish Community of Caen
AddressesSara Harriger, U.S. Consul for Western France
Patrick Thomines, Mayor of Coleville-sur-Mer
Laurent Fiscus, Prefect of Calvados Department
Lt. Gen. William B. Garrett, III, Deputy Commander of U.S. European Command
Closing PrayerFather Xavier Signargout, Diocese of Bayeaux and Lisieux
Laying of Wreaths 
Taps-Raising of the Colors 
Retiring of the Colors 
Participation of Troops5th Signal Command Color Guard, U.S. Army Europe
Unit Garrison of Cherbourg, France
French Military Band of the Artillery of Rennes, France

9,387 Americans are buried at Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France.

The Memorial faces the United States at its nearest point to the cemetery – between Eastport and Lubec, Maine.

normandy-american-cemetery-memorial

The 22-foot bronze statue entitled The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.

american-youth-rising-from-the-waves

The reflecting pool and chapel:

reflecting-pool

The beaches from the orientation table:

beaches-from-normandy-american-cemetery-orientation-table

We got to watch an interview with WWII Veteran Curtis Phillips.

wwii-veteran-curtis-phillips

My kids got to shake his hand and thank him for his service.

This is something they will always remember!

shaking-curtis-phillips-hand

We remember the fallen.

remembering-the-fallen

After the memorial service, we toured the Omaha Beach Museum and monuments.

There’s a good video in the museum and lots of static displays.

It really helped the kids (and I) understand the Normandy WWII battles.

amphibious-vehicle
army-truck
omaha-beach-museum

The Omaha Beach has a monument in the sand: Les Braves.

les-braves

An airplane did flybys around Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach for Memorial weekend.

I had a canvas made of this image.

flyby

In the afternoon, we hiked around Pointe du Hoc.

I never learned about this in school!

Pointe du Hoc is a promontory with a 100 ft (30 m) cliff overlooking the English Channel on the coast of Normandy in northern France. During World War II it was the highest point between Utah Beach to the west and Omaha Beach to the east. The German army fortified the area with concrete casemates and gun pits. On D-Day (6 June 1944) the United States Army Ranger Assault Group assaulted and captured Pointe du Hoc after scaling the cliffs.

We were amazed by the bunkers and passageways and how the brave men conquered the area.

bunker-at-pointe-du-hoc
hidden-bunker-at-pointe-du-hoc

The Normandy WWII monuments are a pilgrimage all Americans should try to make to understand history.

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Filed Under: Military Tagged With: memorial day, military, Normandy, World War II, WWII

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Comments

  1. Kim says

    May 28, 2017 at 4:57 pm

    Thanks for this post and the great pictures. My son loves WWII history and I will definitely show him this. What a great and powerful experience for you all. I have enjoyed seeing Europe from your other posts as well.

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      May 30, 2017 at 11:22 am

      Yay! I’m so glad you’re enjoying our posts!

      Reply
  2. Mother of 3 says

    May 31, 2017 at 2:09 am

    We went to the Normandy beaches when I was in high school and I can still remember getting goosebumps seeing all the graves and the barbed wire on the beaches.

    Reply
    • Jennifer says

      May 31, 2017 at 10:41 am

      Yes, it is something to always remember.

      Reply
  3. Miranda says

    May 27, 2019 at 10:33 am

    Such a great way to teach your kids the importance of this special day. I am so thankful you shared the pictures as they were beautiful and in some ways made me feel as though I was there with all of you. I had never heard of Pointe du Hoc before either. That is certainly a cool story and one I would love to learn more about in the future.

    Reply
  4. Patsy Burnette says

    May 28, 2019 at 10:17 am

    What a beautiful Memorial Day post Jennifer! I’m so glad you’re helping your children, and all of us, understand the seriousness of this day. I have a difficult time with “Happy Memorial Day.” It’s not happy. It’s a somber day to remember what freedom costs. Thank you for this reminder and thank you for linking up at InstaEncouragements!

    Reply
  5. Karen Del Tatto says

    May 28, 2019 at 4:42 pm

    Thanks so much for sharing this beautiful tribute.

    Reply
  6. Joy says

    May 30, 2019 at 9:46 am

    Jennifer this was an awesome post commemorating the true meaning of Memorial Day! Thank you for sharing these beautiful pictures of your family’s trip.

    Reply
  7. Rachel Lee says

    May 30, 2019 at 10:20 am

    What a fun and memorable trip! Love seeing all of the pictures! You are an inspiration!

    Reply
  8. Penny Struebig says

    June 1, 2019 at 7:18 am

    What a great lesson for your children! We visited Normandy in 2017 and found it so touching. Standing on the same beaches our troops arrived on was surreal.

    Reply
  9. Donna Reidland says

    June 4, 2019 at 4:16 pm

    It’s sad that kids don’t learn more about this in school. But there is nothing like seeing and experiencing it first hand to make history come alive. Thanks for sharing all this!

    Reply
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