Normandy American Cemetery
Situated on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, is the 172 acre cemetery for American soldiers killed in action during the D-Day invasion. The cemetery is the second most visited in the world with Arlington being the most visited. This cemetery has a few unique facts; there are 33 pairs of brothers buried side-by-side; 3 Medal of Honor recipients; four women are buried here, one being a civilian nurse; Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. and Quentin Roosevelt (brother and son of President Theodore Roosevelt) are buried side-by-side here. Quentin Roosevelt died in WW1 but was exhumed and reburied next to his brother after creation of the cemetery.
Of the 9,387 soldiers buried here, 307 are unknown. This cemetery holds approximately 1/3rd of the American soldiers killed in action on D-Day. The other 2/3rds were returned to their homes for burial. The names of 1,557 that were never found are engraved on the wall in the Garden of the Missing.
Omaha Beach below the cemetery
Ceiling in Garden of the Missing memorial
Hey Guys, this is moving enough and I am not even there. I can only imagine how it must feel actually seeing the site(s) first hand. It is great to see your posts, keep em coming.
Doug & Pam
Doug / Pam,
Very moving. When you think of the courage those men had to leave their homes with the thought of never seeing their loved ones again, all to help another person they never have met, is truly moving. Our next post is one level up from these. The story of Oradour Sur Glane was never told in history books, mostly gone unknown for many years. It is one that needs to be told but I’m sure there are many that have fallen to the side in light of other, more familiar atrocities. Oradour is just one town of many.