La Gratitude des Normands
Late May was an exciting time to visit Normandy. My husband and I took a train to Caen where we rented a car and visited the Caen Memorial Centre for History and Peace. Afterwards we drove south to Mont Saint Michel where we stayed in a bed and breakfast out in the country. The family we stayed with still cooked meals in the fireplace for people who wanted to come there to eat a French country meal. The hostess made all of her own bread and many varieties of jam.
The next morning our hostess told us we should not miss visiting Saint Andrews which was the first village the Allies liberated on D-day. She expressed so much appreciation for what the Americans did for France during World War II and empathy for the young soldiers who landed in France (a country foreign to them) not knowing exactly where they were.
The paratroopers landed behind enemy lines while soldiers crossing the channel by boat landed on the beaches. One paratrooper got caught on Saint Andrews Church and hung there, highly visible, until the villagers could cut him down which took a couple of hours. As a memorial the people of Saint Andrews have kept a dummy of a paratrooper on the church ever since that day out of gratitude for their liberation.
American soldiers landed on Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, and Pointe du Hoc which is the high point between the two beaches and where the soldiers had to scale the cliffs under enemy fire using ropes and ladders.
Seeing these beaches in person is overwhelming realizing the magnitude of the D-day operation and the sacrifice of so many lives to accomplish the military objective.
The cement fortifications are still at Pointe du Hoc as well as the depressions in the earth caused by Allied bombing prior to D-day.
One of the most touching aspects of the visit to Normandy was the gratitude the people there expressed for the help of the Allies during World War II. Much of what we saw may have been in preparation for the 70th anniversary of June 6th (there were red, white, and blue flowers everywhere, flags, and lots of pictures on buildings of Allied soldiers with the French people), but I do believe the appreciation is ongoing.
The French conducted a ceremony at the American Cemetery to show their appreciation. They had two men tourists lay a huge arrangement of flowers on the tomb of the unknown soldiers. The French woman who spoke talked about the statue which represents how very young the men and women were who are buried there. She ended with a quote from General Eisenhower about how is heart ached for the loss of life in the war and the pain this loss caused to families of the fallen, but that he rejoiced in the liberty these
soldiers had won for future generations. Like many people in Normandy I am grateful for the sacrifice of all those involved in World War II and for the resulting peace and happiness that I have been able to enjoy in my life because of this sacrifice.
