78 years ago today allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy and would begin the drive of German forces out of France and given the name Operation Overlord.
Débarquement de Normandie as it is referred to in France, D-Day to many others around the world. General and future President Eisenhower consulted the weather and tides charts and picked the day that would be the best for landing on the coast. The greatest generation that morning took the beach by water and air, many of them never to step off the sand to return home. More than 125,000 American, British and Canadian soldiers were involved in the operation that began at midnight when they parachuted in and to the beach at dawn. The causalities were high, for all the allies, the highest numbers at Omaha beach.
My grandfather fought in WWII, arriving after D-Day in August 1944 and serving as a co-pilot in the Air Force flying B24’s. Stationed in Attlebridge England they would fly over the North of France and into Germany. It was something he never really talked about and a part of his life I have put together through his photos, notebooks of mission and his letters.
In 1983, my grandparents visited Normandy and the American cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer. Located on a former battlefield the cemetery is covered with 9,388 white crosses that face west to the United States.
The memorial colonnade built in 1956, made of limestone from Burgundy holds the map of the operation of that infamous day. A large bronze sculpture by Donald de Lue represents The Spirit of American Youth Rising. What is meant to be an uplifting, hopeful image of a young soldier reaching to the sky is filled with sadness when you think of the young men that gave their life for the greater good on that day.
These photos are my grandfathers, taken on what was a very emotional day for him. I asked my grandmother years ago what she remembered of that day and she said my grandpa walked alone taking photos and shedding a tear for the many that had been lost. However, he felt it was important to be there and to see the final resting place of so many.