Sainte-Mère-Église/Utah Beach/Omaha Beach/American Cemetery
Sainte-Mere-Eglise was a vital objective to the Allies during Operation Overlord or D-Day. The 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment dropped all over the town, most of the men getting caught on poles and being shot before unhooking. One incident involved a man named John Steele. He dropped and his parachute got caught on one of the spires in the church. He played dead for 2 hours with a German sniper beside him in the tower he was caught on. He was later cut down by Germans.
On the outskirts of the town was a battle for a bridge in which four German tanks attempted to cross, including some infantry. One man with a bazooka managed to take out three of the four tanks and the Americans managed to hold the bridge.
While I was there, I saw the memorial for John Steele, which was a dummy hanging from a parachute hooked on a church spire, the bridge, and an Airborne museum that was super cool. Also, we were staying in a bed and breakfast that was less than 50 meters from the famous bridge.
Utah Beach was the westernmost beach during D-Day. It was assigned to the Americans along with Omaha Beach. Utah, along with Sword beach, the easternmost beach were added into the invasion in 1943 to expand the frontage of the beach so that more craft could land.
My experience at Utah was amazing. It was a bit overwhelming to be standing on the same sand in which someone 70 some odd years ago died on. It was amazing to see the open ground the Americans had to cover in front of German pillboxes unloading hundreds of rounds onto them. There were some monuments, a Sherman tank, and a moc Higgins landing craft.
Omaha Beach was the hardest beachhead to take. Assigned to the Americans, most of the beach was a small shoreline and then a tall cliff. In order to capture Omaha, the Americans would have to scale the cliffs or run up a flat beach to capture their objectives.
One of their most difficult objectives was Pointe du Hoc. Pointe du Hoc was a tall cliff with a very small rocky beach that held German artillery positions aimed at the nearby beaches Utah and the rest of Omaha. The US Rangers were sent in to do the job, in which they did after so many casualties. When the Rangers got to the top, they realized the guns weren’t there. The had to fight their way through numerous German counter-attacks in order to find the guns and destroy them. Two men got to the guns, one destroyed the guns, one kept watch. This battle was an outstanding sacrifice by Americans but it paid off in a way.
While I was at Omaha beach, I felt like I was in Saving Private Ryan. I could picture what it would have looked like on June 6. At Pointe du Hoc, it was very cool. You could see and even go in most of the German bunkers. The other bunkers were either caved in or had been hit by a naval shell and been turned into a pile of broken cement. One of the best parts was that you could see the craters made by the naval shells. They were ENORMOUS!!! You could fit like 100 of me in them!
Our final stop was the American Cemetery. This was very overwhelming to be in front of thousands of white crosses, most of which have the date June 6, 1944. There are no words to describe the cemetery. It sits on a sector of Omaha beach and has beautiful monuments and extremely well-kept grounds. You just feel proud that you're alive while standing in front of all of those brave men who gave their life for their country.
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