Normandy Institute 2016 LHS: Day 10: Normandy

Today was our best day yet. We visited several sectors of Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc. Omaha Beach is a special place. Like Gettysburg or Pearl Harbor, there is a real sense of sacrifice and loss on the beach. We began in the Dog Green sector where the 29th Infantry Division made their landing on June 6, 1944. At low tide, the distance from the water to the cliffs is easily over 300 yards. Being there, it is easy to see why this place was such a deadly place. A large German bunker with heavy artillery overlooks the beach, while machine guns would have been placed on top of the hill. Soldiers had very little protection, as the air bombings missed their targets. Only some brave maneuvers by five U.S. navy destroyers, gave the 29th any cover, and helped them eventually take the beach in the afternoon of the sixth.

View from the water at low tide

View from German bunker near the top of the bluffs

We were able to go out to the edge of the English Channel, but it required wading through some large puddles on the beach. Many people decided to take off their shoes and wade in the water, but Isaac used his long jumping skills to leap over the puddle. Students enjoyed seeing the beach, and it gave them a better perspective about what soldiers experienced on D-Day.

Isaac preparing to jump the puddle

Excellent form - he made it!

Teagan and Isaac on the beach - Pointe du Hoc in the background

View from German bunker

We went on a hike through some of the roughest terrain around Omaha, and walked down a narrow path to Easy Red sector, where the 1st Infantry Division invaded on D-Day. We walked down the same path that the soldiers used to march from the beach. Below you'll see our hike compared to the famous image of the 1st Infantry climbing up the hill from Omaha Beach in the days after D-Day.

We met the curator and founder of the Big Red One Museum, Pierre Louis Gosselin. He found his first artifact on the beach when he was eight years old, and has dedicated the last thirty years of his life to collecting and identifying artifacts from the 1st Infantry Division, nicknamed Big Red One. Hearing his personal stories and learning about his efforts to identify personal artifacts of soldiers was inspiring. His small museum doesn't have as many artifacts as some of the larger museums, but the personal connection he has with this infantry division demonstrates the enduring relationship between the French in Normandy and World War II soldiers.

Pierre Louis Gosselin with Dr. Dehays showing one of the first artifacts he discovered

Isaac carrying the German machine gun...it was heavy.

Isaac and the hedgehog

A U.S. Army helmet from the museum giftshop

Our last stop of the day was Pointe du Hoc, the area between Omaha and Utah Beaches and site of heavy German defenses. Pointe du Hoc is an incredible landscape. It is covered in craters from the U.S. and British bombings that targeted the area in the months before D-Day. The Army Rangers, led by Lt. Col. James E. Rudder from Texas, scaled the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc with grappling hooks and took the German bunkers. The American Battle Monuments Commission has preserved the area, so it's geography is still similar to what it was 70 years ago. For Isaac the students, the area was a great place to explore and expend some excess energy.

Liam (PA) giving his briefing on pre-war bombing from a crater

Dr. Dehays in a German bunker where six large guns were stationed

Matt (NH) and Isaac in a German bunker - dark and creepy

Lorena crew in a smaller crater

Isaac taking on a larger crater

Coming back on the other side

Memorial at Pointe du Hoc (Reagan gave a famous speech here in 1984)

View from the top of the cliffs

Plaque to Lt. Col. James E. Rudder, 5th Army Ranger Battalion

Inside the German bunker

Video - Isaac v. the crater

Observation Deck View

German Escape Route

We were a little worn out after Pointe du Hoc, so we rode the bus back to the hotel. After watching the end of the France soccer game, some of us headed into Bayeux to visit some of the town's sites. Bayeux is a picturesque, historic town with a beautiful 11th century cathedral. It is also home to a World Heritage Site, the Bayeux tapestry, created by William the Conqueror's court after his invasion of England in 1066. The tapestry is a beautiful, medieval piece of art that tells a clear narrative with incredible details. It was courageously preserved by the French resistance during World War II, when they hid it for five years from the Nazis. We finished the evening at a Creperie restaurant on the canal in Bayeux.