Sunday, May 6, Normandy

We headed to Colleville-sur-Mer, this small coastal village close to the D-Day Normandy landing beachheads is a three hour drive from our Paris hotel.  With Pa behind the wheel and me behind the map, we wound our way through the French countryside and arrived at Omaha Beach. 

The amphibious landing operation conducted that day was and is the largest ever with 130,000 allied troops landing along the beaches of Normandy ( Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword).  We found ourselves on the Fox Green section of Normandy Beach.  It was cold and blustery .. but we were pretty stoked just being there.

Dotted along the beach, we found numerous gun embankments.  It was a pretty powerful experience to walk along the beach, collect sand, and climb into the concrete defensive positions that remain part of the landscape.

There were several unit specific memorials that overlook the beach, including the 5th Engineer Brigade and the 1st Infantry Division, better known as the Big Red One.