Field Report: The 65th Anniversary of D-Day by Mike Hanlon

In early June I was the leader of group that visited the Normandy invasion sites and got to attend the 65th Anniversary Commemoration at the U.S. Cemetery above Omaha Beach. My regular World War I company, Valor Tours Ltd., had asked me to accompany and lend a hand to their founder, RAF veteran Bob Reynolds on this trip. Bob flew on a mission over the Cotentin Peninsula the night of June 5/6, 1944 dropping chaff to cover the U.S. parachute drops for the invasion making him an authentic D-Day veteran. Since Bob has led this tour for 40 consecutive years my "leadership" of the tour mainly consisted of checking the group into our outstanding hotel, the La Sapiniere, (situated right on Omaha Beach near one of the key breakout points of June 6th) plus saying "good morning" to the group each morning on the bus before handing the microphone over to Bob. This was a blessing for the group because Bob proved to be a great raconteur, knowledgeable historian, and an authentic participant in the actual history being recounted. It was a blessing for me as well because I got to focus more than usual on the sites and events themselves. Here are some of my memories and observations of what was a hectic, but exciting, week in Normandy.

Changes and New Appreciations: It has been 12 years since my previous visit to Normandy and I had lost the feel for just how huge a battlefield it was -- 50 miles from the British sites around Pegasus Bridge on east flank of the beaches to the American drop zone behind Utah Beach in the west. There has been a proliferation of museums, visitors centers, and monuments since my last visit. There is also greater commercialization around the more famous sites, but the only thing that struck our group as unseemly was a nonhistorical festival of some sort featuring loud blaring post-rock music at Utah Beach when we visited there.

The British and Canadian Contributions: I'm afraid my previous visits heavily concentrated on the American sites to the west, but that deficiency was cured this time. (A little detail for the readers: more British and Canadian troops came ashore on D-Day than Americans.) With Bob's RAF flying experience, at Pegasus Bridge he was able to give a very detailed description of the operation that captured the absolutely superb execution of the glider landing and capture of the bridge. Simply an awesome bit of flying and fighting. Besides visiting the British and Canadian beaches, we also made a long stop at Arromanches where remains of the Mulberry artificial harbor can be viewed. There is also an excellent museum dedicated to the harbor right on the beach. In my other lifetime I've been a project manager and planner for new medical centers, large planned communities, and even a nuclear reactor. The Mulberry artificial harbor, however, is simply beyond anything in my experience. Its concept and execution were so grand they can't be appreciated from up-close on the shore, but only from the bluffs high above Arromanches. Imagine the Pharaohs building all the pyramids at Ghiza at the same time--that's the scale of Mulberry. The Visitors Center at the U.S. Cemetery: We spent an afternoon at the $37 million Visitors Center at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. This was the tour's highlight for me. It is simply the finest tribute to America's military heritage I've seen, and I've been to Gettysburg, Arlington, Valley Forge, and almost all of our great memorials and museums. The American Battle Monuments Commission that oversaw its design and construction deserve the highest praise. Considering that it honors one of the greatest victories in our history, it is totally lacking in triumphalism. The center features clever technology and displays, but they are not intrusive and they are beautifully done and give a tremendous amount of information. Visitors learn about the Normandy campaign, its origins and execution, the units that served, and best of all--I can't say this too strongly--leave feeling personally acquainted with a large number of the soldiers who fought for us there. All visitors upon departing are guided blind to a small enclosure where a last statement is made. On a patch of ground is planted an M-1 rifle with the bayonet punching into the ground. Atop is a GI helmet - field grave for an American soldier. Many on our tour reported tears flowing at this point. (Yes, me too.) In the Normandy campaign, as we reported last month, the United States lost more killed in action (29,000) than in any other battle in our history.

U.S. Military Cult: An amusing discovery was made the day we drove from Paris to the invasion beaches. We started spotting dozens (and later hundreds) of U.S. WWII vehicles on the roads--from jeeps to tank transporters to 6 x 6 trucks--manned by reenactors wearing GI uniforms and gear. It seems that the D-Day anniversary marks an annual meeting and encampment of collectors of U.S. militaria and equipment from all over Europe. It was simply hilarious meeting people from Poland, Greece, and Belgium, who are so "into" things American. A good number of them converged on Sainte-Mere-Eglise the day we visited, but we met with them everywhere we went. My favorites were the "U.S. Navy Shore Patrol," who drove a grey Navy jeep and dressed up like the sailors in South Pacific, wearing white caps, dungarees, "SP" armbands and web belts with billy clubs hanging. Meeting Readers: I was happy to meet some Trip-Wire readers at Normandy. One evening our hotel manager sent a German gentleman over to my table who was looking for a Mr. Reynolds. It turned out not to be my colleague from Valor Tours he was seeking, but I asked the fellow to join me for a glass of Calvados and he accepted. He said his name was Martin Galle and I responded, "Mike Hanlon," as we shook hands. Martin totally caught me by surprise when he asked, "not the Mike Hanlon?" I was embarrassed as could be, but as it turns out, I am "the Mike Hanlon" Martin had in mind. He has been a longtime reader of this newsletter. But then, more interesting, I got treated to the story why Martin was making his own pilgrimage to Normandy. His grandfather, on his mother's side, commanded the German infantry regiment that was defending Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Martin said this was an interesting coincidence because his grandfather was also in the front line of the St. Mihiel Salient when the U.S. Army deployed there in 1918. I have asked Martin to write an article on his grandfather's experiences in both wars and hope to present it in a future issue. Jeffrey Aarnio, Superintendent of the U.S. Oise/Aisne Cemetery and his wife Michelle also said hello at the cemetery ceremony. His own cemetery has been designated in a group of five overseas cemeteries to receive enhanced educational resources for visitors modeled (on a smaller scale) on the Omaha Beach center. His is the only WWI cemetery on the list, so we will be monitoring that project closely. Jeffrey will be attending the Seminar at Kansas City is September, so you will be able to meet him if you are attending. Last, friends Toni and Valmai Holt, founders of Holts Tours and now publishing magnates, dropped by our hotel to visit with Bob Reynolds and myself. This was the second year in a row we were able to visit and we had a pleasant, albeit too brief, time comparing notes. They are redoing their D-Day guidebook and we will post a link to their site when it is ready. I used their current edition to brush up for this trip and it proved invaluable.

Fireworks: The French do fireworks outstandingly well. At 11 p.m. the night before the anniversary there was stupendous display along the 50-mile invasion beach front. From, maybe, six to eight points simultaneous launches were made of spectacular and identical bursts. The effect was stunning and I'll remember it all my days.

D-Day + 65 Years - the Morning: Everyone at our hotel had the same idea -- rise early the morning of D-Day and walk down to Omaha Beach. My room happened to be on the second floor of the hotel and my front door opened to a near-perfect view of the beach. When I opened it that morning, I gasped at the scene I beheld. Overnight a flottila of Allied warships (mostly French apparently) had arrived and were anchored just offshore. I had a bit of the view of a German defender at the same position on that morning 65 years ago. It was another priceless moment for me. Unfortunately, for security reasons, the gendarmes closed off the beach that morning. By the way, they now wear baseball caps instead of kepis. (I wonder when that happened?) D-Day + 65 Years - the Big Event: The rest of June 6th, of course, was fully focused at the commemorative event featuring the world leaders at the Omaha Beach cemetery, which had a limited, by invitation only, audience of 7,000. For me personally, this was the first time I felt I was at "The Most Happening Place" in the whole world. I won't bore the readers with details about security. It was all understandably necessary, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was fun to experience it firsthand. The U.S. military was an important yet unobtrusive presence. Besides helping with the security, they served a number of other functions like escorting veterans and firing the artillery pieces in the 21-gun salute. The young troops who came by to chat inspired a lot of pride amongst our group. Bob Reynolds became a hero to the group as he somehow wangled a seat on the main stage just four rows behind the first lady. (He seems to know everyone at Normandy.) President Obama hit the right tone in his speech as did President Sarkozy. (Of course, I didn't confirm this until I read a translation a few days later, but the large French-speaking contingent responded pretty positively during the talk.) The British and Canadian Prime Ministers, however, didn't do as well. Mr. Brown sounded a bit strident and seemed to be far more political (commenting more on a laundry list of current issues rather than remembering D-Day) than his colleagues, and Mr. Harper spoke alternately in English and French, making it difficult to follow the logic of his talk. Taken a whole, the ceremony was inspiring, though, and at times thrilling, like when the four national anthems were sung with gusto by the chorus.

Corridor of Death Museum: There was a final surprise for me on our return drive to Paris. At Montormel, near Falaise where the famous gap didn't quite get closed, there is a great museum that shows what happened in those critical hours of the Normandy campaign when escaping German units were almost annihilated. The museum designers cleverly set you up. You are first treated to an excellent but conventional audiovisual presentation of the fight in an enclosed, standup theatre. But then doors open, and you instantaneously step on to a platform where you view, several hundred feet below you in a valley, the "Corridor of Death" itself. A+ for its dramatic presentation of military history.

Visit Mike Hanlon's blog at http://www.worldwar1.com/tripwire/smtw.htm