To me, France was just how people described it to me. It is a small French town with narrow streets. The town is dominated by a towering ancient cathedral. While we spent some of our time wandering the streets and discovering new places to try new French foods, the most memorable times in Bayeux occurred when we left the small city and went to the beaches of Normandy. We visited many sites, including Ste. Mere-Eglise. This site was particularly interesting to me as my site report covered the paratroopers in Normandy and this is where much of the fighting took place. We also visited the statue dedicated to Dick Winters of the 101st Airborne where I have my report on Steven Ambrose’s novel, “Band of Brothers.” Seeing where these men actually landed and where much of the fighting on the first few days of the invasion was incredible. I was able to connect all that I had learned about this area in my reading to the actual location that the men of Easy fought.
Pointe du Hoc was the most impressive of the Normandy beaches. At this site, men were tasked with scaling steep cliffs in the face of a well-fortified enemy during the invasion of Normandy. The men were given grappling hooks and ladders to climb the cliffs and had to do so under intense German fire. Seeing this in person truly showed me how daunting the cliffs must have looked to the Rangers. The perception of this battle is that it was a resounding success. While in the grand scheme of the war this may be true, the amount of casualties that the men took would lead me to think that it wasn’t as successful as it is made out to be. Over half of the men that scaled the cliffs were killed in battle. It seems that the success of a battle was determined not by how many men survived, but if the overall strategic goal was accomplished. The bomb-cratered battlefield is littered with the remains of German defenses. Walking through the defensive structures and seeing what the Germans would have looked at puts in perspective how dangerous this mission was. The casualties reflect the harsh terrain.
German fortifications looking out towards the ocean.
Cliffs of Pointe du Hoc.
Perhaps the most interesting and humbling experience during my time in Northern France was visiting the memorials to the men that died fighting in Normandy. We visited American, British, and German memorials. Each memorial was unique in the way that it remembered the fallen soldiers. The design of the headstones varied based on how that country remembers the war. In the American Memorial, all the headstones were perfectly lined up and were all made of marble. The only thing that differed between them was the religion of the soldiers that were killed, a Cross for Christians, and a Star of David for Jews. This uniformity of burial reflects the idea of the “Good War” as all these men were fighting together and as one. This is also evident in the fact that only Americans are buried there. In contrast, the British cemetery represents the “Peoples War,” which is demonstrated through the personalization that is present there. Family members of fallen soldiers were able to write personal messages and select an emblem to display on the tombstone. Another difference here is the fact that people from all nationalities are represented here. There were Poles, Soviets, and many others. This is another example of how this war for the British was the “Peoples War.” Both the American and British cemeteries in Normandy glorify the fallen soldiers and remember them as heroes. The German memorial does not attempt to do this. The German cemetery does not seek to glorify the fallen German soldiers; it only serves to recognize the sacrifice made by often innocent people.
Tombstone of a 17-year-old British soldier.
What had the greatest impact on me was seeing the ages of the men that were killed in Normandy. I always knew that people younger than me had died fighting, but seeing it in person really drove it home. In the British cemetery, this feeling was compounded by the messages from the soldier’s family. Seeing messages from mothers, fathers, brothers, and sisters to their dead family member was sad. This had a much larger impact on me than I was expecting.
Our time in Paris was short but I tried to make the most of it. I visited many of the typical tourist locations such as the Arc de Triomphe, The Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower. Seeing these landmarks in person was a great experience. We also visited a museum dedicated to Charles DeGualle. Here, it was interesting to see how the French attempt to portray him as a hero in World War II. They are very forthcoming and sometimes disingenuous when describing all his positive attributes and seem to be completely fine with leaving out some of his mistakes.
Overall, I loved France and the people. The stereotype that they are rude to Americans is not true in my experience. Now off to Poland!