Remembering WWII part III

Normandy

Longues-sur-Mer Battery 

The Longues-sur-Mer battery was a World War II artillery battery constructed by the Wehrmacht near the French village of Longues-sur-Mer in Normandy. It formed a part of Germany's Atlantic Wall coastal fortifications.

The battery was completed by April 1944.^[1]. Although constructed and manned initially by the Kriegsmarine, the battery was later transferred to the German army.^[2] The site consisted of four 150-mm navy guns, each protected by a large concrete casemate, a command post, shelters for personnel and ammunition, and several defensive machine-gun emplacements. source

Just one of the massive German guns

The observation shelter that overlooked the beach, it looked remarkably like those in Saving Private Ryan.

The German's view of the ocean on a rainy, misty day

All four guns in the distance

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Located on the bluff above Omaha Beach, the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial holds the graves of 9,386 American soldiers who lost their lives fighting in WWII and one soldier from WWI (don't know where he was hiding out).

Omaha Beach from the cemetery

Spirit of American Youth

Military Operations on the Beaches of Normandy

Looking towards the chapel

Omaha Beach

 Les Braves

 

Walking on the same sand

Touching the same water

Experiencing off of this cannot help but remind me to be grateful each and every day that both my Grandfather and Michael's Grandfather made it back safely. Far too many weren't so lucky.