Mike's Travel Snaps

Omaha Beach Here's the view from our hotel on Omaha Beach. I took this right before departing on May 7th, and the day was overcast. You're seeing the front yards of those houses across the street. Immediately behind them is the beach, and the English Channel is just beyond.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Omaha Beach Another angle from the hotel room. About 150 yards up the road beyond the flagpole, there is an intact German gun emplacement. It's a concrete bunker with a heavy artillery gun still protruding as a reminder of the massacre that happened that day. Standing next to the bunker looking at the Nazi's view of the beach (obviously those houses weren't there 60 years ago), I could only grimly think of how easy it would be to see landing craft coming, and how clear a shot one would have.	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Click here to see a map of German defenses on Omaha Beach. I think the aformentioned gun emplacement is the place labeled WN 65 on the map.
American Military Cemetery Slightly to the east of where we were staying was the American Military Cemetery, where almost 10,000 U.S. soldiers are buried. Read more about the cemetery here. The "present day" scenes from Saving Private Ryan (at the beginning and end of the film) were set and shot here. The principal memorial on the cemetery grounds has as its centerpiece a bronze statue entitled "The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves," sculpted by someone from Leonardo, NJ (for non-local readers, that's a town near mine).	Click on the above image to see a larger version.
Among those buried here are Preston and Robert Niland, two of three brothers from the same family who were killed during the Normandy campaign. The third brother was ordered sent home. The Nilands were the inspriation for Saving Private Ryan. Two of Theodore Roosevelt's sons are also buried here (Theodore Jr. and Quentin), both of whom died in the days after D-Day. Read about President Bush's Memorial Day trip to the cemetery (three weeks to the day after my visit) here. See a D-Day remembrance from CNN here (navigate with little blue arrows which you will see in the lower right of the window). See CNN's D-Day museum here (same navigation tip as previous link).
American Military Cemetery This is a ceiling mosaic from the American Military Cemetery which was inside the chapel there. I was struck by the graphic directness of the white angelic figure at the bottom putting a wreath on the fallen soldier. It's both grotesque and poignant. According to the official brochure from the American Battle Monument Commission, that part of the mosaic depicts "a grateful France bestowing a laurel wreath upon American Dead who gave their lives to liberate Europe's oppressed peoples."	Click on the above image to see a larger version.