We spent a day touring the historic Normandy beaches and a visit to the The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. The World War II cemetery and memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, honors American troops who died in the Normandy landings and the Battle of Normandy that followed. 

Walking with our guide to the cemetery was both sobering and beautiful.

Crosses and Jewish stars of the 9,387 Americans who died during D-Day and the Normandy invasion.

A video on the Normandy American Cemetery.

The beautiful memorial consists of a semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing large maps and narratives of the military operations.

At the center is the bronze statue, “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.”

Marla and I walked over to the “Walls of the Missing.” 1557 soldiers.

Very moving!

Very difficult to imagine what this beach was like on June 6, 1944.

This is a very informative video on D-Day.

The beach was amazingly quiet!

I tried to imagine the sounds of war of June 6, 1944.

Over 23,250 American troops landed on Utah Beach.

The bronze sculpture depicting American troops on Utah Beach.

The Airborne Museum is a French museum in Saint Mere Eglise dedicated to the memory of paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions of the United States Army who parachuted into Normandy on the night of June 5–6, 1944. 

A video of the museum.

A visitor could literally spend days in the museum.

A German bunker at Pointe du Hoc in Normandy.

The Omaha Beach Memorial.

This is a trailer for Steven Spielberg’s 1998 Oscar winning film, “Saving Private Ryan”.

Photos: Dick Gentry. Not to be used without permission.