Utah and Omaha beaches are vastly different. Whereas the area behind Utah is low-lying (which was flooded by the occupying Germans to slow the Allied invasion), Omaha has steep bluffs. Most of the D-Day stories we hear are about the difficulties the US forces had overcoming the strong German defenses, advancing across the beach and over the bluffs. It was sobering to be standing on that very spot and attempt to comprehend the effort and the individual sacrifices made on that beach in 1944. However, none of that prepared us for the emotion of our visit to the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer.
It is very hard to put into words what we felt during our time at the memorial and amongst the stark white marble headstones that seemed to have no end. The sheer scale, combined with the beautiful setting, can make it very easy to lose perspective. The magnitude of the sacrifice only made sense to me when I envisioned each of the more than 9,300 soldiers standing in front of his headstone. The weight of that image will be with me forever.
There are few places in this world where we 'need' to visit during our lifetimes. This is one.
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