NOW he decides to comment.....
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Took out a BUNCH of pics - TOO many MB's
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The first 5 pics below are from Pointe du Hoc. This is where (if you can't read the text LOL) the U.S. Rangers shot grappling hooks to the top of these cliffs and climbed up while being fired upon. The craters next to the emplacements were made from a battleship firing 36" rounds (comparable to shooting a VW Beetle). The one you see was probably 15 feet deep - EASY.
The next 2 are from Ste. Mere Eglise. The exhibit areas at the 82nd Airborne Musee are shaped liked parachutes with even a "Rupert" (the fake/dummy paratroops that were dropped to take attention away from the ACTUAL Airborne guys) hanging from the center of the one you see in the background. Look closely and find the parachute on the side of the Dom (click on the picture first). Just below it is a stone statue of the paratrooper who was stuck there that night and literally watched most of his unit get slaughtered while he watched helplessly.
The next 3 are at Vierville sur Mer. The large gun you see is underneath the National Gurad Monument/Memorial.
The 2 after that are between Vierville sur Mer and Ste. Laurent. I took a pic of the beach house for Stacky! Halfway up that dune is a barely visible tunnel opening. Dog Green is the sector of Omaha Beach where Tom Hanks' unit (and the real-life story that it was based on) came in and started their fighting.
The next is a pic of the Arromanches Musee du Debarquement dedicated to that area of the beach where the Allies dropped 115 pilings to build a LONG supply bridge for ships to unload supplies - OFF the coast of Normandy! This was named Mulberry Harbours. After that is one of the few surviving Pill boxes at Longues or "Chaos" Battery.
The next 2 are from the Veteran's Ceremony at St. Laurent sur Mer - the 1st is my Troop and the 2nd is actual veteran's of the Liberation.
The 2 after that are from the Scouts' Arrow of Light ceremony and the campfire that accompanied it. If you look at the 1st of these 2, see how far the tide is back? (The campfire is right in front of the lady with the blue and black jacket) Within an hour it was up TO the campfire and by the time we left, the logs were floating in the encroaching tide.
The last 2 are from the closing ceremony for Scouts and Veteran's ONLY and were a tribute to the American Veteran's that died during this amazing battle. It was a solemn but wonderful salute to those who gave THEIR ultimate sacrifice.
One again..... An inCREDible weekend!
I am, once again.....
Out. |