Normandy Memorial

After spending two days in Paris, two nights ago we spent the night in a parkplatz (autobahn wayside gas station) somewhere in France and then decided to throw all caution to the wind and reroute our trip to see the beaches of Normandy.  It was not only moving, but beautiful as well.  It's hard to believe that such a big battle took place there now.  We went to the Normandy Memorial and toured through the wonderful museum and spent some time walking amonst the graves, before heading down to the beach.  Dennis found a LAMB who was killed on the beaches during D-Day and we left him a fresh, crisp U.S. dollar bill on his grave.  I collected some sand in a seashell for the American Legion at home, if they want it. 

The thing that struck me most, was how young we all were while we were in the military, and how young all these soldiers were when they died.  As we walked around the museum and saw pictures of some of the guys that were killed, knowing we're celebrating our 20th Anniversary, we could've been most of their parents.  The grief and sadness that must have followed that day for each individual family had to be heart-wretching and unconceivable.  It really makes you stop and stand back when you think you've had a bad day, just how truly lucky we are.

The Americans own the land at the cemetary and there are four perminenant positions there for prior service Americans.  The only requirement beyond military service is you have to be fluent in conversational French.  The land and cemetaries are beautifully kept and it's was an honor to see.