It was so nice to not sleep in a dorm bed, where I woke up on a regular basis because it was so hard, but I still woke up with a back ache. I don't know if I should blame it on the air plane, the bus ride, or the weather, but I have been moving in slow motion. Breakfast was cold cuts, bread, and chocolate croissants. Yummy chocolate croissants.
Our first stop of the morning was at St. Mere Eglise. This small town was an important crossroads and essential for the Allies to control in order to move off of Utah Beach. Therefore, troops from the 101st airborne were dropped into the area to secure it. One of the paratroopers was caught on the steeple of the church and hung there for two hours while the battle waged beneath them. They have commemorated the event and story by hanging a metal man in the steeple.
The Airborne Museum is located in St. Mere Eglise and that was our next stop. This museum was much better than the ones we visited yesterday. There were a few planes to look at and good information about the airborne's roll in the invasion. The neatest part of the exhibit was called Operation Neptune. You enter the exhibit through an airplane filled with paratroopers, then step onto a glass floor where a battle is raging beneath you over the French countryside. There are several other dioramas in the exhibit, but that was the coolest.
There was also some pictures of the temporary cemeteries, and Eston was initially buried in St. Mere Eglise. I suddenly had a new quest. I had a picture of the cemetery plan on my phone, and knew the temporary cemetery was only about 500 feet from the civilian cemetery, which we had passed between the bus and the church, but I really didn't have time. They separate the adults and gage kids for a few minutes, and I am telling another adult about the cemetary. We get on the bus, and suddenly that adult yells "hey, there are two flags over here, do you think this is it?" We hurried over, and it was a marker for the original cemetary.
We boarded the bus again and traveled just a short distance to the La Fiere Bridge where there is a statue of Iron Mike. At each stop, we have students who do briefings about a topic related to the site and tied to their solider, and as the girl was talking about how the Germans had flooded the fields, it was neat to see exactly where the flooding had been to help develop a picture in our heads of what it was really like. Part of the memorial there is a 3d frieze laying out the countryside, and it is neat that so many buildings are still there as landmarks 70 years later.
We ate lunch on the bus: ham and cheese sandwiches, chips, and another chocolate croissant, and a coke! While we ate, we drove to Utah Beach. This is where the 4th division landed, and though they had drifted downstream, General Teddy Roosevelt, Jr., declared, "We'll start the war from here." Others have described him walking along the dunes that day as one of the most brilliant acts of bravery ever. I took my shoes off and walked in the cool water, and thought about what the Germans must have thought when they saw the invasion force appear over the horizon.
C gave her briefing on the importance of Cherbourg, the ultimate goal of the Utah Beach invasion, and the battle in which Eston died, and then we toured the Museum. This museum was also well done. The text was good and there were a lot of artifacts. I would have enjoyed it much more if my back had not been killing me so badly. We paid special attention to the 4th Division markers, but in regards to the museums, C has said she feels like they are all about the airborne and the pilots, to the point she asked if they were more important. I don't think they were more important, just more glamorous than a foot solider with a rifle like Eston.
We had two unscheduled stops. The first was a little church where two medics set up a field hospital. While the battle waged back and forth, they treated both Germans and Americans. After a few hours, they heard someone coming down the steps from the church tower, and a German sniper had been up there the whole time. The pews in the church are still stained with blood.
The cemetery at the little church was interesting, their grave stones are raised, and people attach little monuments in them "mon once," "mon amie," and so forth. We also noticed a stone that said "died defending our country" and the date was 1940, so that person had died when the Germans first invaded France.
Our second unscheduled stop was a place called Dead Man's Corner, and it was there that one of the student's soldier died.
Our final stop of the day was at Pointe du Hoc, a cliff the Rangers scaled to take out German guns. From that spot, the Germans could target both Utah and Omaha Beaches. I was afraid we would have to do some climbing, but we didn't. It was all flat ground on the path. However, the path had to wind around craters left from the bombings. There was a sign basically warning people to climb at their own risk.
We returned to the hotel and the plan was for half the teachers to have a night off and half to be with the kids. I took the kids, but only two went with us as the rest. Including C, wanted to go with the teacher from the institute. He said it was all right, so we only had two to deal with, and ended up only one of us actually watching them. Supper was smoked ham, scallops with bacon, and creme brûlée. We returned to the hotel and again enjoyed the adult company before turning in for the night.
Today's steps 18324
No comments:
Post a Comment