First thing this morning, we visited the cathedral in Sainte-Mère-Église, which is a beautiful old chapel. As you all might know, there was an American paratrooper named John Steele who got hung up on the roof of the church as he dropped on the eve of D-Day and the Germans saw him but decided it was hallowed ground and didn’t kill him. You can see the dummy and parachute on top today and this has also been something I have thought was very interesting.

I remember the scenes from The Longest Day and was excited to see this place. And frankly John Steele was a total badass and made all 4 combat drops with the 82nd Airborne Division and won a Bronze Star and several Purple Hearts.

Inside the cathedral is a very special pane of stained glass that commemorates the 82nd’s action at Sainte-Mère-Église and you can see the All American Division logo on the middle left of the window.

We purchased and lit a few candles in the church and I said a quiet prayer of thanksgiving for all of the great men who answered the call of duty during WWII and other wars.

We then visited the Airborne Museum in Sainte-Mère-Église and it was a great and emotional experience.

Here you see a display where we were in a C-47 airplane with the troops as they were flying into Normandy. There were sounds of flak and gunfire going off over the speakers and then you were told to stand up and ready to jump. Chills went up my back and I could feel their anxiety and fear.

We then visited Brecourt Manor where the 101st Airborne assaulted 5 gun emplacements which were shelling the beach landings. Very famous and very cool story made famous through the Band of Brothers tv series. There wasn’t much there but a plaque and a map but I could feel and hear in my mind’s eye the men yelling and following orders as they systematically assaulted each gun emplacement and spiked them. Amazing!

The map drawn by Dick Winters which was engraved on the plaque was very hard to see well because of glare but it was a hand drawn overview of the battle and was very interesting. it gave a great perspective on the layout of the complex and the attack route.

While driving to Point du Hoc, we came upon the Maisy Battery that had a lot of German guns that would have been shelling both Utah and Omaha Beaches. These guns and emplacements were well preserved and had open bunkers you could walk into.

The picture of the sea below is a view they had from a small mound of about 12-15’ in height that was built to target the beaches and ships coming in and gave a commanding view of the English Channel.

But the best part was the trenches and the various gun emplacements of which there were about 15 or so. So glad that we happened upon this.

We then arrived at Pointe du Hoc but didn’t get to see much as the weather really took a turn for the worse. High winds and heavy, heavy rain got us soaked and made the trails nearly impassable. We did however get the following picture and I feel bad as it is a bit flippant for the gravitas of the site.

I made a bad joke that Operation Overlord had to be called off! You know due to the poor weather which actually happened several times.

We then made it to Omaha Beach, which was the landing site with the fiercest resistance and the worst loss of life for the Allies and was an American beach. It looks like a vacation spot now though and the beach is lovely. But it would have been a different story on June 6th. Hundreds of German machine guns, mortars, tanks and artillery pieces would have been raining fire upon the advancing men. The monuments were nice but don’t really do it justice.

I am very glad that I was finally able to make it here and very much enjoyed the experience.

We then went to the American National Cemetery where most of the Allied dead were buried. It was a beautiful and well manicured site with beautiful flowers, trees and grass. So green and lovely. But as you can see there are hundreds upon hundreds of white crosses or stars of David where the soldiers lay resting. I felt very grateful to them as many emotions flowed over me. Grateful for their willingness. For their courage. For their selflessness. For their sacrifice. Because of these things free people were able to gain back their lives and their sons to be who they are. The Nazis were scum and this whole thing was so stupid. Hitler was sore over the fact that Germany was punished for their sins in WWI and was going to pay back those who caused that. Lunacy. He killed millions upon millions of his own people. Millions of Jews. And the deaths of millions of French, British, Soviet and American soldiers. Not to mention millions of civilians. Just amazingly stupid!

We are spending tonight in Caen and visited this beautiful church called the Chapel of St. Pierre.

I simply love the solemnity of these cathedrals. They are heavenly. The church was severely bombed by the Royal Air Force and pretty much destroyed but it has been totally rebuilt and looks amazing.

Today was amazing! I really felt the gravity and importance of this historical event and situation and the fear that must have been omnipresent in all of the fighting men. Just amazingly emotional. I thought of my father a lot and his service even though it was very different and during peace time.

Tomorrow, we are making our way to Belgium and Waterloo as well as Mons and hope to meet up with designer Kris Van Beurden. See you tomorrow!

-Grant