We arrived first at the Caen museum. It is about 20 miles inland and is dedicated to the preservation of the events that occured during the war. It was incredible. The first thing was saw was a 40 minute film with nothing but film from the war. It was breathtaking, jaw dropping, and fear striking. It starts with two split screens. One side showing the Axis powers, the other the Allies. Let my try and take you there. Intertwined you see the events of D-Day playing out live on screen. Footage of young men, most mere boys suiting up and getting onto boats along the British coast. Fixing their jackets, cleaning their guns, going over strategies. While at the same time the Nazi's are working on their defense. Young guys setting up barracades, working on machine guns, loading the ammunition rooms.
Then to the water, the troops cross the sea's as airplanes more numerous then a hoard of locusts devouring a field from it's crops. Men jumped from planes behind enemy lines, Nazi's raced to their battle stations. Alarms sounding, guns loading, battles beginning. Men running for their lives onto the beach taking massive quantities of casualties. At a moment I stop and think about the cameraman. How brave and scared do you have to be to charge into a nightmare with a weapon that only shoot's film and light. No source of defense. Men's faces a pale, painted with fear. I breath in, thinking how different the time was. The only draft we know now is coming in 2 weeks, where 21 year olds will become millionaires. There draft was different.
You see inside the bunkers, one of which we actually visited. This of course would bring chills down your spine as your standing in the exact spot that soilders where killing Americans. The war is playing out in front of me in two simulatneous screens. Two different perspectives, both sides mortal. Then a plane flies across the beach showing the battle from above. Covered in obstacles, barb wire, vehicles, bodies, firing of weapons back and forth, it seemed to go on forever. Then it switched it showed the beach today, the tranquil silence. Almost as if a destination for summer vacations rather then a battlefield. Again it would switch back to the fighting.
Scenes of boats coming up to the cliffs, shooting rope ladders for men to climb. Victory coming and Nazi's surrendering, raising white flags. Then shots from the overall war. The strategy. The push. The Red Army covering Europe being pushed back and back. Devestation surrounding towns. Battle after battle. Strategy unfolded and the plan was unveiled. Soilders marching in French cities. French citizens celebrating with glee. Freedom had for all. Thousands died for this one idea, this one concept, FREEDOM.
The movie was incredible. I was there. I was lost in this world of horror and celebration. The museum had plenty of relics. Parachutes used as decoys to throw off the German troops, a soldiers parachute used as a wedding dress for his bride, vehicles and planes. Photographs galour and explanations of the events. The men who died are honored with pride. There is enough material here to learn and go on forever.
I took a minute to take it all in and re-live what happened here. I walked along the beach and stood on a blockade remains that ran into the water. Built to break the easy sands from the cliffs ahead. The base was all that was left.
We walked to some of the old bunkers housing the large guns used for taking out ships and massive numbers of troops. They were quite a distance away from the shore and high in elevation in comparison to the coast. It took an entire day to capture the bunker. The sheer size of the guns where impressive and 3 of the 4 where actually in recognizable shape. I climbed on one of the barrels and took a photo showing the perspective towards the sea. It doesn't do it justice because I have climbed halfway down the shaft.
We then drove down to the beginning of Omaha beach and parked on the sands nearly 20 yards from the high tide. It was a pleasure seeing the children play on the beach. This site helps take away the horrible memory of the tragic events and reminds you that the price of freedom is never forgotten. To have this ability to see kids run and laugh freely is priceless. We climbed up to the bunkers and saw the memorial for the 5th engineer brigade. There job was to clear the beach of obstacles and they paid dearly for their actions. The said 94 percent of their company died. We also saw one of the main bunkers that the 1st infantry took out. It took 19 hits to the side of the bunker with a tank to render the defense ineffective.
The standing room in the top of the bunker was just head level for me. I had to squat down to see through the windows. The bottom floor was pitch dark. Walking through coach led the way and actually stepped in a puddle. He was moving out of the way for a British girl and fell in the hole, which was actually uncovered by the planks. The girl laughed at him and he was covered in water about a foot or so down. The bottom bunker was so dark. I imagined the boredom soilders had to face during the war. Countless months sitting, waiting. I thought about them playing cards to pass the time, practicing their marksmanship, drinking beer. And then all of a sudden the most intense fight of your life happens. How do you plan for that? How do you deal with that? How did they react?
I stared off in the distance almost in a haze from all that I was taking in. This is the beach. This is the place where US soilders stormed the beaches fighting for another country, fighting for freedom. At first I wondered why they didn't want high tide to get as close as possible, but then it was explained to me that they needed the low tide in order to clear the obstacles for their vehicles. Picture that just right behind me on the beach.
We walked into the American cemetery at the top of the hill and words can not describe it. A place for reverence, for rememberence, and pride. This our my countrymen. These are my people. Americans. Being in Europe it has been hard for me to grasp who America is. What our pulse is, Who we really are....being so much younger then the foreign countries and made up from these different countries. I see buildings daily that our older then our history. Seeing the cemetery reminded me of our character, of our strength, of my patriotism. And I pray that as Americans we all remember this. That we all take history a bit more seriously. Learning what others did for us, where we as a country have come from. And taking pride in it. I am an American. After my moment in the cemetery, I went to the visitors center and found a registry. I searched my name and found 4 Rhodes buried in the cemetery. One was Carl E. Rhodes from Alabama (originally where my Rhodes family name is from) I found his grave in Plot B row 1 grave 25. First row. He was a member of the 67 bomb squadron and recieved a purple heart. I can only wonder if he is a family memeber or not. All in all it was a great trip, one I think every American should make. I feel changed from it, and I can only hope it is not just emotions that I am feeling, but a deeper understanding of who I am as an American. That I would have had the courage to do what these men did in paying the ultimate sacrifice for freedom.
Find more pictures from the trip here....
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