One of the reasons I picked this tour is that it included Normandy. For years, every time I saw pictures or stories about the American Cemetery, I thought it would be wonderful to see it. I never thought I could, but now this dream has come true for me! It was an incredible experience visiting the beaches in Normandy and ending the tour at the cemetery. I don't think my eyes were dry all day long. We had a wonderful British guide for the whole day. He has made it his life's mission to study this period of history, and he has talked to hundreds of veterans and told us their stories and showed us their pictures. He loves these men and treats their stories with such reverence. He talked about the war movies we're all familiar with and told us the rest of the stories, those that were incorrect or just not finished in the movies. We made a quick stop first at the German cemetery, where about a third of the dead were teens or seniors who were conscripted at the end of the war--the expendable soldiers. Our next stop was the town of Sainte Mere Eglise. It was made famous by the movie The Longest Day, where Red Buttons played the paratrooper whose chute was caught on the bell tower of the church. But there was more to the story. Another soldier was caught on the other side of the bell tower and still another was on the ground. A German soldier mortally wounded the man on the ground (right where we stood) and turned to shoot the soldiers on the bell tower. Before he died, the soldier on the ground shot the German and saved the lives of his buddies. That wasn't in the movie. Our guide Stuart told us about a man named Bob Murphy whose story was also in the movie. Bob came back to this town several times every year and became like a godfather to the villagers. Everyone knew him. (He was actually an attorney to the Kennedys after the war.) Stuart came to know him quite well, and the last time Stuart saw him, Bob told him he had a terminal illness and wouldn't be back again. He knew Stuart always told his story on the tours, so he said he would be looking down and smiling whenever Stuart gave his tour. In Utah Beach, the boats had to come in at low tide because there were so many obstacles and mines planted there. So many things went wrong that day. The boats landed there by mistake, about a mile from where they were supposed to be. It was lucky because they only lost 190 out of 16,000 (imagine 16,000!) men that day, but within three weeks there were 5,000 casualties. Standing there looking out from the beach, it was hard to wrap my mind around the idea that 826,000 men landed here. Pointe du Hoc was probably the most moving site. This is where 225 Rangers climbed 100 foot cliffs. The area had been shelled by air for six and a half weeks before D-Day. I wasn’t expecting to see all the craters. It really makes war seem real for the first time to see physical evidence like this. Our guide Arnaud told us later that’s why the French were so against the second Iraq war. So much of their country had been devastated by the war, and they were hesitant to wish this on anyone. The job of the Rangers on D-Day was to take out six big German guns on Pointe du Hoc and hold the road until reinforcements came. Of the 225 men, 167 made it up the cliffs through heavy fire. Once they got there, they found telephone poles instead of guns. When the shelling began, the Germans moved the guns. At the end of the movie, one of the men said something about it being all for nothing, but once again, that wasn’t the end of the story. Two soldiers found five of the six guns hidden in an orchard unattended by the Germans who were up on a hill watching the invasion on Omaha Beach. They used fermite (?) bombs to incapacitate the guns. Other Rangers took the road. Mission accomplished. But instead of waiting for three hours as planned for others to come, it was 60 hours under heavy fire before the reinforcements could get there. In the end, only 87 men of the original 225 were alive. On Omaha Beach, it was to be shock and awe by the air force, and the men arriving by boat were just supposed to mop up. Once again, things didn’t go as planned. Because of heavy fog and low clouds, the planes were unable to see anything. They couldn’t risk bombing our men,so they couldn’t drop most of the bombs. 95% of the targets were missed. The men coming by boat were easy targets—85% of them lost their lives that day. Stuart has told this story hundreds of times, but he was still emotional, as were we. We were on American soil when we visited the American Cemetery. France has given this piece of land to the U.S. Nearly10.000 Americans are buried there, about one third of those who died in the Battle of Normandy. There are 42 sets of brothers and a father/son buried there. It’s such a beautiful place! It’s landscaped so beautifully, and there’s not a blade of grass out of place. It’s situated right along the water. You would be proud of it. It was a very, very moving experience. Stuart helped Ann find the grave of her sister-in-law’s uncle, Theodore Zajac. When he saw the date of death, he said there were very few casualties that day and that Theodore may have been wounded a few days early. I can’t imagine having a better guide at this special, special place. This is definitely one of the highlights of my trip to France.