I've been lucky to have seen a lot of the world but few spots affected me as much as our trip to Normandy in 2011. Coincidentally the trip fell on June 6th. To stand on the North side of the American cemetery and look out over the bluffs toward the Channel left me awestruck. The courage it took to sprint across the expanse of beach in the face of a fusillade of hot lead is unimaginable. I got to meet a veteran of that day who at 19 years of age parachuted into Sainte Mere Eglise with the 82nd Airborne...19! And if the row upon row of crosses and stars of David doesn't bring a lump to your throat or a tear to your eye you haven't a pulse.
My dad was part of Clark's 5 th Army that fought its way up the Italian boot and liberated Rome. Ironically, Clark entered Rome on the same day as the Normandy invasion and found himself relegated to the back pages.
For those interested in reading more about D-Day or the war in Western Europe I would highly recommend Beevor's book simply entitled "D-Day" or Rick Atkinson trilogy ( An Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle and Guns at Last Light)
My dad was part of Clark's 5 th Army that fought its way up the Italian boot and liberated Rome. Ironically, Clark entered Rome on the same day as the Normandy invasion and found himself relegated to the back pages.
For those interested in reading more about D-Day or the war in Western Europe I would highly recommend Beevor's book simply entitled "D-Day" or Rick Atkinson trilogy ( An Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle and Guns at Last Light)
