The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France is located on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944 and the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site, at the north end of its ½ mile access road, covers 172.5 acres and contains the graves of 9,387 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.From the American Battle Monuments Commission.
It's amazing that the plan for an invasion of this magnitude by the Allied Forces was kept secret and completely surprised the German forces in the area.
Grandpère and I visited in the late 1980s. The cemeteries are sad and beautiful. The ghosts linger on the hallowed ground. I remember seeing old veterans searching for the graves of their comrades in arms, and family members searching for the graves of their loved ones, and the quiet tears that often followed once they found the markers.
Until I visited the site, movies notwithstanding, I never quite realized the difficulty of the landing at Omaha Beach, the steepness of the cliffs, the exposure once the troops reached the top, not to mention those who were shot or drowned when they left the landing boats. More than 4,400 Allied troops died in a single day.
For those who died in the service of their countries.
ALMIGHTY God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give thee thanks for all those thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of their countries. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence, that the good work which thou has begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. AMEN.Note: Reposted from last year and the year before.
(Book of Common Prayer, p. 42)
