Here's hoping you get a chance to meet some of the locals who are old enough to remember that day. I've heard that Brittany and the coastal areas are quite different in the local's perspectives from the rest of the country.

Beautiful photos, Amy. Nice outfit too! I miss you.

Ditto, Lena. The car fit five. Wish you could have been here. While we talked just briefly with local people (finding Martinville was a major effort), I have talked quite a bit with our friend Pierre, who is retired cabinetmaker (ebeniste) and was around during WWII...and is patient enough to speak slowly enough so I can understand his French!

Amy, if you will allow me an anecdote. Three years ago, I attended Memorial Day ceremony at the Normandy cemetery above Omaha Beach. French members of Franco-American WWII associations (yes, they do exist!) had been invited and among them were some, children at the time, who had witnessed D-Day landing & shared their memories of that day with us. One lady who was ten years old then told us how she & her brother had walked to the beach early in the morning of June 6, 1944 & seen the sea black with ships. They had run home to tell their parents who followed them back to the beach, then told them to go back to the village & tell the neighbors. There was nothing the people could do but stay in their houses & wait for hell to break loose. Two or three families in that village near Colleville-sur-Mer would gather in one house & sit on the floor in a circle with the children inside the circle. When the shooting started everything would shake in the house. Even if there was no direct hit, dishes & other objects would fall, windows would break. And every time something would break, the father of that lady would jump to his feet screaming with joy: "Les Américains! Les Américains!"

Amy, thank you for this post.

Frania W.

And thanks to you, for your story. Please feel free to share as many as you want -- I know you know a lot about that time. It was really amazing being there...the ridge is Martinville...near St. Lo...there's a place called The Belvedere where there's a stone plaque on a podium about the battle...otherwise, you'd never know. It's gorgeous countryside...we heard that the ocean ran bloody for days after the Americans and Brits made their advance on the beaches. There was a whole WWII history industry at Sainte Mère-Église...historical items for sale, museum, and a dummy with a parachute stuck on the top of the church steeple, representing an unfortunate American parachuter named John Steele who'd landed rather badly. The American Cemetery was very beautiful, but our friends (one French from Corrèze; the other, American from the Bronx, but now living in Paris) commented that the style looked very American. It is American territory, leased in perpetuity -- run by Americans...photo of George Bush on the wall and all. And I could see what they meant -- something about it looked more American than French...couldn't quite put my finger on it -- and it wasn't just the sign out front that said "NO DOGS" in about 5 different ways. (And I do understand this -- museums and parks don't allow dogs in France, either -- but I've never had a restaurant turn me away - not even a fancy one.) Then again, regarding the "no dogs" sign, there were children there whose parents allowed them to run and play catch. In my opinion, if they can't behave well enough for the place, which was very moving and solemn, they should be left home -- as in, home, thousands of miles away.

Hmmm...trying to put my finger on the difference...why it seemed more American looking than French...is it that it was very spare -- manicured, but in a more spare way than the French would do it? Fewer trees, etc. More like Arlington?

Makes one wonder why a family would go there in the first place, if the parents just wanted to let the kids romp around. Wouldn't the point be to teach them about the place itself?

Jesus, it's not Disney. The Ugly American strikes again.

There is an immediateness to a military cemetery. You won't find yourself limited to wondering about their lives and families; your consideration will include their cause, and what set it so violently against the will of others. You'll question the judgment of leaders. If you are honest, you will consider what you would have done given the exact same information, minus your 20-20 hindsight. Maybe, you'll crack open a history book to find out what went wrong, what went right, and what was repeated in subsequent wars. You'll be a better person for having done so.

I find it intricate and involving to consider the degree to which *nothing* has changed: the causes are just, the information incomplete, the tactics flawed, the innocent unjustly involved, on all sides of hundreds of conflicts around the world. Each generation thinks they have invented any idea.

It took me hours to consider the Vietnam Memorial. I hope I am richer as a result; I suspect that you, Amy, will treasure such bittersweet moments as bringing the past to life so poignantly offers you.

Thanks for sharing the photos and words. My sister is in Mosul (since Dec.) and hopefully will be coming home for an R&R in August. My sister-in-law, a nurse in Glasgow, is leaving for Basra this weekend with the British Army (for four months). Not an easy time for our family, but we're not alone.

On another note, when I first looked at your photo, I didn't see Lucy's head, and it looked like you had a little baby in your shawl - albeit a bit emaciated-looking (reminding me of a baby I saw in the arms of a girl begging at a train station in India.) Does anyone else see it that way if you look again ignoring Lucy's head (sorry Lucy)?

Yes, Rad...you call to mind the guy who'd won a Congressional Medal of Honor, and had his cross lettered in in gold, with a gold star on the stem of the cross. The one we saw was Jimmie Monteith. Gregg has a photo of his cross.

There were three buried at that cemetery:

http://www.cmohs.org/recipients/featured_June_2001.htm

Click "Citations" to figure out what they did. Link is below:

http://www.cmohs.org/recipients/dday_citation.htm

But I'll also paste in the citation on the grave we saw. Interestingly enough, one of the other citations goes to Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.

Here's Jimmie Monteith:

Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Colleville-sur-Mer, France, 6 June 1944. Entered service at: Richmond, Va. Born: 1 July 1917, Low Moor, Va. G.O. No.: 20, 29 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty on 6 June 1944, near Colleville-sur-Mer, France. 1st Lt. Monteith landed with the initial assault waves on the coast of France under heavy enemy fire. Without regard to his own personal safety he continually moved up and down the beach reorganizing men for further assault. He then led the assault over a narrow protective ledge and across the flat, exposed terrain to the comparative safety of a cliff. Retracing his steps across the field to the beach, he moved over to where 2 tanks were buttoned up and blind under violent enemy artillery and machinegun fire. Completely exposed to the intense fire, 1st Lt. Monteith led the tanks on foot through a minefield and into firing positions. Under his direction several enemy positions were destroyed. He then rejoined his company and under his leadership his men captured an advantageous position on the hill. Supervising the defense of his newly won position against repeated vicious counterattacks, he continued to ignore his own personal safety, repeatedly crossing the 200 or 300 yards of open terrain under heavy fire to strengthen links in his defensive chain. When the enemy succeeded in completely surrounding 1st Lt. Monteith and his unit and while leading the fight out of the situation, 1st Lt. Monteith was killed by enemy fire. The courage, gallantry, and intrepid leadership displayed by 1st Lt. Monteith is worthy of emulation.

And yes, Lucy sometimes looks like a furry, but well-behaved child.

“Hmmm...trying to put my finger on the difference...why it seemed more American looking than French...is it that it was very spare -- manicured, but in a more spare way than the French would do it? Fewer trees, etc. More like Arlington?”

The only *Frenchness* of the cemetery is the fact that it lies in Normandy, but for the rest, it is an American military cemetery designed by Americans & run by The American Battle Monuments Commission. All American military cemeteries have been created in a similar style. They are neat, peaceful & typically American.

Usually when one of the markings, christian cross or star of David, has golden letters, it is because the grave was recently photographed, such as after the lying of flowers, and to highlight the name so that it will show up on the photograph, gold-tainted sand is applied on the letters. The golden sand falls off within a few days.

Frania W.

You're right about the sand being temporary -- for most of them. We had a guy come over with the pail of sand to fill in the letters for Gregg's uncle's grave marker. He just rubs sand in and it fills the letters, darkening them. I didn't show that because it's personal for Gregg. But the Medal Of Honor guys get permanent gold leaf and a star that others don't have.

Oh my god, Samaritaine is closed? That's so sad. That was one of the first places I discovered in Paris at 17 and remains one of my favorites for its view, location, etc., despite its rather stodgy wares.

They say it's due to danger from fire, but people don't seem to believe that. Supposedly it was closed so they could fix the "danger" -- but that would take two years. For development probably -- for something. They probably had to do it that way because it was beloved by many people. Me included.

Amy, this is not a sarcastic question, but it's going to sound like one. What does Omaha beach look like?

If you set aside the vibe that some of the most pivotal blood in modern warfare was shed there, does it look like Santa Monica, or Florida, or New England?

I think Speilberg shot his film in Ireland, which always seemed like a cheat.

I've never been to New England beaches, but it doesn't look like Florida. More like mid-to-northern California. Scrubby vegetation, then flat sand...very wide stretch of sand in this case. Then there was a hill...stairs this way and that way.

Was at Omaha in 1983 and back again this past July. Much built up.... commercial buildings, homes, hugh vacation trailer parks, golf course close, horses racing on the beach, children playing catch at American Cemetery and I was offended at all this in what should be a sacred place..... until I realized that what they were fighting for in 1944 was "Normalcy"

Smart insight, Don.