American Cemetery in France- A Tribute to the Fallen
Along the Normandy coast lie the Normandy American Cemetery France, the British Cemetery, Canadian Cemetery, German Cemetery and Polish Cemetery for soldiers from World War II. For each of these war cemeteries, France has granted concession of the land to the home country free of cost, rent or taxation. There are 14 such cemeteries with American dead, 5 of which are in France. This post also includes the German Cemetery in France.
Entrance to the American Cemetery
Almost 10000 American dead lie at the cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach east of St Laurent-sur-Mer. The Normandy American Cemetery is located on the site of the temporary American St. Laurent Cemetery, established by the U.S. First Army on June 8, 1944. The walk from the car park to the cemetery gives you a beautiful view of the Omaha landing beach and if you wish, you can follow the path from the top down to the beach.
View of Omaha Beach from the American Cemetery
Walk down to Omaha Beach from the American Cemetery France
There are 9387 crosses or stars of David made of Carrara marble marking the graves. I couldn’t begin to capture the vastness of these 172.5 acres of crosses with a camera
Row upon row of crosses and markers with a Star of David
Memorial Platform American Cemetery France
Beneath your feet of the memorial platform with the bronze statue are pebbles from Omaha Beach which is below the cliff. This 22 foot tall statue was sculpted by an American and cast in bronze in Italy. On its marble base are the words “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”.
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord”
View back towards the reflecting pond and the memorial platform of the American Cemetery France
Wall of the Missing
Behind this memorial you will find 1557 names on the semi-circular marble Wall of the Missing. These persons are either missing or their body was unidentifiable. A rosette beside the name indicates the person’s body has since been found and interred.
There is a time capsule containing news reports of the June 6, 1944 Normandy landings. This time capsule covered with a rose granite slab carries the inscription:
TO BE OPENED JUNE 6, 2044.
In the Lorraine Region France you can visit another American Cemetery France along with many World War I memorials.
German Cemetery in France
The German Cemeteries are La Cambe and Les Orglandes, in the middle of the forest which they fiercely defended. La Cambe is the largest of the war cemeteries with 21,222 burials. La Cambe is located 8km west of Isigny-sur-Mer. With its low lying dark stone crosses it has such a different feel from the American Cemetery.
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Other Foreign Cemeteries in France
Canadians are buried predominantly at Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery near Juno Beach. The men buried here died in the D-Day battle on Juno Beach and also at the Battle of Caen in early July of 1944. This cemetery is 1km east of Reviers, 18 km east of Bayeux and 15 km northwest of Caen. Numerous cemeteries around Caen contain British graves.
Between 1947 and 1954, the repatriation of approximately 172,000 bodies of American soldiers occurred according to the wishes of their next of kin. The remainder lie buried in permanent military cemeteries on foreign soil. The following is a list of World War I and World War II Foreign Cemeteries as set forth by the American Battle Monuments Commission.
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