Vierville-sur-Mer

The beaches where the Allies landed on June 6, 1944 occupy sacred ground. One can only imagine the feelings of the nineteen and twenty year old men who jumped from the landing craft on that summer morning. Most expected to die on those beaches. In the first wave most did. Some did not even make it out of the landing craft. The weather today was raw—30 mph gusts blowing sand into your eyes. The temperature is a chilly, wet and windy fifty-five degrees. Yet the rain and wind today made for conditions similar to those experienced by the GI’s in 1944. Over nine thousand young Americans lie sleeping on the cliff they captured from Germans of the same age in 1944. Yet these patriots sleep in American soil. The French government gave these 170 acres to the United States in 1965 to say “thank you” for the permanent sacrifice of these young men and the four young women nurses who still lie here. They gave their lives because they believed that people should live in freedom rather than tyranny. Being here reminds me again of the cost of freedom. It also reminds me that America cannot be great unless she is good. I hope she still is.Les mer