Saturday - Day 2 of Billi Pod and David’s Normandy Adventure began early. We left the hotel around 7:30am, in pouring rain, to meet up with our tour group. We had directions on a small map that quickly became virtually unreadable due to the rain. We had to ask directions several times for a trip that should have taken less than 10 minutes. Not a good beginning we both thought. Well ... we finally located the pickup point==>whew!!
It was raining!
We were fortunate to have booked our Battlebus tour in advance because It was one of the last of their season. At 8:25 a.m. we, with six other Americans (two of whom were from Boston and are, of course, Red Sox fans) were loaded up and on our way to the American sector beaches and battle fronts along the coast of Normandy. David and I visited the British and Canadian sector beaches briefly on Friday and today we were to see the famous Omaha and Utah beaches.
It was raining!!
Our tour guide could not have been better. Alan, a British citizen in his early 40s, has been a serious scholar of the events surrounding the invasion for over 10 years. Four years ago moved his family to Normandy so he could walk the fields and beaches as he continued his research.
From the beginning he gave a very personal insight into the events of that historic day. He has written a book and has met and interviewed numerous veterans. He augmented his running narration with personal photos, maps, memorabilia etc he had collected over the years. He also did not hesitate to address some of the so-called “myths” that have come into being regarding the success and/or failure of certain aspects of the invasion.
One of our stops is very special to Alan. It was a very tiny church, Angoville au Plain, where two barely trained medics had parachuted nearby. For three days these two, who were 18 and 19, tended to the wounded soldiers of both sides and also treated civilian wounded.
Morphine ran out and all the pews were filled with seriously wounded young men who were in various states of dying. Both Robert White and Kenneth Moore were awarded Silver Stars for their efforts.
It was raining!!!!
Despite the now pouring rain everyone in the group walked down to and around the Utah and Omaha landing sites as Alan provided a nonstop narrative, personalized with names and photographs of some of those who survived and some of those who didn’t.
One of the most chilling comments from a survivor was: “2 years in training; 1 day in combat; 2 years in a hospital.”
And, speaking of D-day movies, Alan pointed out that of that genre which now includes Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, only The Longest Day was filmed on the actual locations where the events took place.
I simply cannot go into more details about the landing sites because once I start, then there is no way to stop. It was very emotional for everyone, including Alan.
Our last stop was the beautifully maintained American Cemetery above Omaha Beach were, among thousand of others, Teddy Roosevelt’s son and David’s uncle are buried.
Being there helped us understand that thousands of young men had given their lives in a battle to defeat evil and restore freedom to The World. We must never forget them!!
It was raining!!!!!!
It was around 5:30pm when we got back to Bayeux. We were all soaked and emotionally drained. We said our goodbyes, paid and tipped Alan and headed back to the hotel to the new rooms we were given to makeup for the WiFi problems. Guess what? WiFi didn’t work in my room. WTF!! No matter, I wasn’t going to let this minor glitch detract from what had been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
It was raining!!!!!!!!!!
We changed into dry clothes, found a nearby bistro and had a great dinner. It was around 10:30pm when we got back and officially ended Day 2 of Billi Pod and David’s Normandy Adventure.
It was raining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Billi Pod
“Don't pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he'll just kill you.”
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