After Utah Beach we drove through several small towns, stopping whenever there was anything interesting. In the town of St. Marie du Mont we saw another group of recreators camping around the town church. This was wear the 101st Airborne collected themselves after being scattered everywhere EXCEPT their drop zone!
The next town we stopped in was Angoville-au-Plain. The church here is very small, and it's where two American medics treated both American and German wounded on D-Day and beyond (for 72 hours). They refused to neglect the German soldiers, saying that they were there to treat ALL wounded. The medics forced all the soldiers to leave their weapons outside the door and peaceful ruled the inside of the church.
Inside the church are several wooden pews that still have clearly visible blood stains from the wounded and dying soldiers. Also, there are new stained glass windows that honor the American medics and the paratroopers of the 101st. This was one of the most moving sights of the day. I'm so glad we stopped!
Tomorrow is June 6 - the 69th anniversary of D-Day! We're going to Omaha Beach, its museum, and the American Cemetery! There's a commemoration ceremony at the American Cemetery that we're going to attend, and later on we might go to a big town picnic on Omaha Beach itself. I can't wait! I've got lots of kleenex!
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Holy cow! The blood stains blew me away. I love how they have such a deep appreciation for history and the artifacts that tell this story. If that was the U.S., we would have built an IHOP over it.
ReplyDelete-John