I couldn’t let this day go by without sharing with you my visit to Normandy.

Twenty years ago, my wife and I had the privilege of visiting Normandy, where today, June 6, 2019, the 75^th Anniversary of D-Day is celebrated.

We stayed in a small hotel in Caen, France the night before we drove to the Normandy beaches. Caen is not to be confused with Cannes, the popular city on the French Riviera, known for its film festival. Caen is located just a few miles from the beaches. It wasn’t until July 1944 that it was liberated.

There is a picturesque canal in central where small sail boats were docked. It wasn’t until we returned home that I discovered photos of that area devastated by the Nazi’s.

We visited the nearby famed Pegasus Bridge, where plywood gliders of the British 6^th Airborne Division crash landed their craft nearby in the early hours of the invasion with the mission of taking the bridge. I recalled historian Stephen Ambrose’s book about the mission. There’s a statue there honoring Maj. John Howard, who commanded the mission.

This trip was not without its little side stories. The night before our trip to the beaches of Normandy we located a bakery near our hotel, where we planned to purchase baguette sandwiches for our trip that would eventually wind up at Mont Saint-Michel, the island mainland commune seen in French tourist brochures.

When the shop opened the next morning, we were told that they didn’t make sandwiches that early in the day, but with the help of a local woman, who explained to the proprietor our plan for the day, she happily obliged and we were on our way. We found the French people to be quite friendly.

The drive to the beaches over the narrow roadway was memorable it itself as we noticed American flags flying from small French homes along the way.

Walking along the top of the cliffs among the German gun emplacements overlooking the beaches was unforgettable. With thoughts of the thousands who died there, the historical importance of what took place there was inescapable.

“You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.

“The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.

“Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained, well equipped, and battle-hardened. He will fight savagely.

“I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory.

“Good luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.” –

Excerpt from Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Order of the Day

We visited a nearby theater-in-the-round that projected black and white film of the fighting that took place in the nearby countryside that the producer creatively morphed into color views of those locations today.

We visited the Normandy American Cemetery, one of several well-manicured cemeteries in the area, where row after row of white crosses are graphic reminders of the price paid for liberty.

Our travel also led us to Saint-Mere-Eglise, the quaint village where paratroopers from the 82^nd and 101sts Airborne units landed in the early hours of June 6, 1944, facing fierce German gunfire.

You may recall from the movie, “The Longest Day,” the depicting a paratrooper with his chute caught on a church spire there. He played dead, but was later taken prisoner, only to later escape. A chute still hangs on the spire.

During our visit there, a young couple was being married, as we tried to imagine what that town square was like in June 1944.

One simply cannot convey the full measure of appreciation of what Allied Forces accomplished on D-Day with a few words as I have done here, but by sharing my experience with you, I am doing my part in keeping the amazing feat alive. I encourage you to visit Normandy if you are ever afforded the opportunity.

                 May God continue to bless he United States of America.