Omaha Beach--Normandy

Today we visited lots of different places! First we went to Omaha Beach which was very interesting. I first need to say that we did not, by any means, have enough time at this stop.



We only stayed for about 15 minutes. As the bus drove down the narrow street along the beach looking for a place to park I looked out the windows at the hills and houses. Our guide, Helen, pointed out that the houses with thatched roofs were the older ones. The white stucco houses were the newer more "fashionable" ones.

Helen showed us where the old concrete bunckers still stuck out of the hills above the beach. They were barely noticeable until she had the bus driver stop and she told us where to look.

Once the bus parked we walked down to the beach. It was very windy and my hair was blowing. I had to keep pulling my hat back on tighter! My feet, wet from crossing the small stream of water at the bottom of the stairs, sank into the squishy sand. I know
that it may not seem right to say, but the beach was beautiful. The white foamy waves were crashing onto the sand and rising up the beach. The sky was blue and the condensation was more of a mist from the sea than a rain. I separated from the group a little and walked along the breaking water.



I really wanted to try to think about what happened on the beach and imagine what it must have been like for those men.

I could not.

And I don't think anyone from my generation will be able to grasp what happened there.

I don't even think that anyone who wasn't there will ever be able to fully understand.

When I looked at the beach I saw beautiful brown soft sand. Small streams flowing across the sandy beach trying to reunite with the ocean. White waves. Blue water. Rising cliffs behind me and beautiful old, handmade houses.

I cannot imagine.

I cannot imagine the water filled with iron blockades and barbed wire. I cannot imagine the sound of German guns booming from the hills. I cannot imagine the battle ships and landing boats.

I most certainly cannot imagine the men desperately trying to find cover behind anything they could.

I cannot even begin to imagine...and I will not pretend that I stood on that beach and could think of how it must have felt...because I could not.