Our visit to Normandy beaches: 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings

Tomorrow marks the 80th Anniversary of D Day.  I feel extremely fortunate and blessed because Tammy and I along with a couple of friends recently visited the D Day site in Normandy (we went to two of the beaches, Omaha and Utah a couple of weeks ago).  I can imagine military veterans would appreciate the gravity of Normandy much more than I as a civilian who has never served.  Still, the entire unique experience was more moving than I anticipated.  

I'll share a few pictures below and a couple of impressions I had.  I do not pretend to have any profound insights, I can only say the entire experience was personally moving for me.  

(notice the manikin of Private John Steele hanging from the roof of the church) 

Before we went to the actual beaches, we visited the church in Sainte-Mère-Église.  I would draw your attention to the stained glass images in the church.  There are inlays with paratroopers and images you wouldn't expect in a church.  The people of the town were and are still very grateful for the sacrifices our American soldiers paid for their liberation. 

The land for the cemetery was given over as sovereign American soil by the French and there are over 9000 soldiers buried there.  The grounds are manicured more immaculately than any country club golf course and the atmosphere offers more tranquility than any park.    

(The ceiling of the cemetery chapel in Normandy) 

(The monument atop of the cliff Army Ranger climbed to oust German cannons at POINTE-DU-HOC)

(You can see the preparations behind us on the beach for the 80th)

The trip to the beaches and the cemetery was greatly enhanced by our tour guide, a college history professor, if you ever get to go, I recommend you go with a guide.  I had unexpected reactions at Normandy.  At the cemetery I felt unworthy of all the peace and comforts I often take for granted and with more emotions than I anticipated and I cried as I looked over the perfectly aligned military headstones of the beautifully manicured cemetery.  On the beaches, I felt cowardly, doubting I could have had the depth of bravery our soldiers had to have to storm the beaches being fired upon the way they were.  

All the cliches like freedom isn't free or the land of the free because of the brave never crossed my mind while we were at Normandy.  Instead the landscape felt sacred, to me the space was almost holy, the carnage and destruction and the loss of life wasn't lost on me, all I can say with certainty was the experience was life-changing but only because of the magnitude of it all, seeing it firsthand and not through a movie or a book.  I feel I'm patriotic but I also realize there are truer patriots buried there.  

As a child I grew up watching WWII movies on WGN channel 9 in the Chicagoland area, and I realize most of the Hollywood influences on my childhood allowed me to romanticize Normandy, I have a better perspective and a deeper appreciation of the significance of the event today.  In the end, it is a very spiritual experience to walk those beaches and to stroll through the cemetery, and it is a memory I will always cherish and one I pray that as I reflect on it it helps me to appreciate more of this life God which has blessed me with, and that I appreciate the lives lost by those who willingly faced down tremendous evil.