normandy

the most incredible day of the journey

christine gentry told me to be prepared for an emotional day...she was right

jacques perreau, our guide for the day, met us at the hotel at 9...recommended by randy and sally worth...thanks worths!

he was 4 at the time of the war...family lived in trenches...slept on straw...although his momma told him not to go outside when plans were flying over, he did, and was hit by shrapnel...barely missing his carotid artery...has been a guide for 26 years...70 years old

may have to edit this one later...not sure i have everything in notes....

this was main purpose of the trip our vietnam vets, welton-air force and macey-navy seabees, wanted to make this journey

started with a visit to the german cemetary...from 1944-1947, americans and germans buried in same cemetaries...then separated and many families wanted their boys brought home...and many were returned

the germans are buried 2 per grave...stones out of lava stone...almost black....you dont see many flowers here...visits from families are low key as many are ashamed of involvement...impressive yet simple visitors center featuring many letters...tear jerkers

onto village where paratrooper was trapped on steeple of church and museum there

700 tons of bombs were dropped in advance of invasion...toured this area adjacent to utah beach

uncle herman landed at utah beach...walked out into ocean and back....difficult to imagine what he saw that day...today, children playing, dogs barking, people sunning...no blood in the water as he described....only heard him talk about it once...on a return trip from washington, thad, jan and I think paul and i stopped...thad asked him about it and he shared some...i missed most of it unfortunately as i was desperately trying to get the subject changed, aunt e did not want him to talk about it...dont know if he had bad dreams or what...but she was livid...truly the only time i ever remember her being mad...she was....need to get together with charlotte, payne and derek to make notes on what we all know about his time there....daddy said they slept with the horses and cows at night to stay warm

learned that papa nunnery worked on liberty ships in wilmington...building them... and that aunt judith was born in wilmington...didnt know that...injured men could receive shots of morphine...up to 3...so as not to overdose them...needles were pinned to their shirt collars so the nurses/docs would know how many they had received

uncle herman served in pattons army...was an MP

visited pont du hoc...i wondered if the sea gulls were there on d day

while i cannot speak for the others, for me, the time on utah beach alone, walking into and from the surf, where uncle herman was, had a deeper impact than the time we spent at omaha beach did

the american cemetary experience was beyond description...but here goes

uncle larry's uncle joseph...mokie's brother, was killed at normandy...cousin joseph is named for him....aunt louise had an orchid arrangement made in bayeux to lay at his grave, as she promised her father in law she would

upon arrival, our guide had a representative from the cemetary to meet us...she took us, in a large golf cart, directly to joseph's grave...marked with a simple, stark-white, marble cross. there, she and uncle welton brushed sand, from omaha beach into the engraving so that you could better see his name, rank and date of death...excess was then sponged off...very simply but movingly done...she then left us, after placing flags, american and french

louise then laid the flowers...i'm getting emotional just typing this

louise asked welton, earlier in the day, retired national guard chaplain, to say a prayer

the six of us encircled joseph's marker, kneeling, held hands and welton offered an incredibly moving and appropriate prayer...perhaps other words as well...and then we closed together, reciting the Lord's Prayer.

our guide jacques, arranged for our vets to fold the flag as the cemetary was closing for the day...this was a tremendous honor for both and an emotional time for all...as a chaplain, welton has received the flag for presention to the family---which I know he does so well--many times...but had never folded...macey had not either. they did an incredible job with no stripes showing. afterwards, the flag was presented to andy anderson, superintendent of the cemetary and we had family photos.

there are 2 flags there, the second was folded by world war ii veteran, whitney mullen, 90 yrs old, of burlington, former professor at elon college and his son, richard mullen of pensacola, florida, also a veteran. their camera was dead so we took lots of photos of their ceremony to send upon return home...really special to be a part of both for all 4 vets

afterwards, we walked with andy to a grave as he wanted to share a love story with us. we went to the grave of billie harris...he pointed out that in front of billie's cross the grass wasn't as green as the others...as he receives more flowers than any other soldier...or boy...as the french call them...as the boys came to save them

there was in fact a single rose there that day

billie obviously died on d day or shortly after. once the cemetary was created, attempts were made to find his wife, peggy, by people in the village where he died...i cant recall the circumstances of his death...will have to check with the others...but the villagers never forgot him...and around 2000...they found peggy. she had moved from their town several times. since then, she comes to visit his grave several times each year.

a few months ago, andy was sharing this story with a group of marines and it just so happened that peggy walked up...andy stopped, and asked peggy if she would finish the story...and she did....afterwards, a young marine said something like, mrs harris, i notice that you never remarried, why not...she answered...when we took our vows, it was until death do us part....billie kept his vow and i have kept mine

andy also took us, along with the mullens, to a grave of a soldier known only to God where flowers had been left...with this note:
your sacrifice is remembered for barbara m. oski, b. 1 oct 1928, warsaw, poland
enslaved POW, germany, age 16, M.D. Harvard, age 24
thank you
--her son




it was a special day and i wished a lot of people could have been there to share it with us:

robert monk, who i never got to have a veterans day with in washington...thought there was plenty of time but there wasnt

my cousins, charlotte, derek and payne reamy to recall the service of uncle herman

art and alice keeney for the sacrifice his dad made

ruxton and nancy bobbit, as ruxton is a huge history buff

shields and carolyn pittman who participate each year in the wreath laying ceremony at the national cemetary in raleigh

larry, catherine, warren and joseph stancil to have been a part of the ceremony for uncle joseph

staley and christine gentry, if only our time this summer could have been at the same time on this date

ed miles for the sacrifices his family made here

frank and marget ballard who do more kind, quiet things for veterans of world war ii than i know or they would ever admit too

for darren, troy and robert hales to have been with their dad

but most of all my sisters so that we could all have shared in this day with our dad in appreciation for his service and to remember that of uncle herman who was indeed a third grandfather to us