Emilie reading over the guidelines for the Cemetery. They include: No picnicking, no pets, no food or drink, no sitting on the grass and no running, playing or other boisterous conduct.It wouldn't take long for us to be reprimanded by a park official.
Before entering the cemetery area, we waited for David here, in front of the Visitor Center, on what we thought were long benches. David had gone in to get a brochure on the cemetery, after he passed through a metal detector and waited while others had their bags searched. An official stopped to inform us that we were not allowed to sit there. They were not benches after all. I guess I'd rather be reprimanded for that rather than for boisterous behavior at this cemetery.
We first walked along a path that took us to a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach, called "that embattled shore -- portal of freedom." It was here that the Americans established their first road inland, but at a terrible cost. 
Our weather today couldn't have been more different than that on June 6, 1944.
In rough seas, troops approach the beach.
What were they thinking during that time?
David and I have said to each other several times in the past that we didn't understand the mindset it must have taken to survive this day, in particular what it took to exit the landing craft and run across the beach. I don't think I could have placed one foot in front of the other, I would have been so paralyzed with fear.
The Americans began building their own mulberry harbor the next day. Three days after the harbor became operational, the worst storm to hit Normandy in 40 years began to blow, raging for three days and not abating until the night of June 22. The harbor was so completely wrecked that the decision was taken not to repair it; supplies being subsequently landed directly on the beach until fixed port facilities were captured. Over the 100 days following D-Day more than 1,000,000 tons of supplies, 100,000 vehicles and 600,000 men were landed, and 93,000 casualties were evacuated, via Omaha Beach.
The cemetery covers 172 acres, and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. Included are graves of Army Air Force crews shot down over France as early as 1942.
The grave of Preston T. Niland. The Niland Brothers were four American brothers from Tonawanda, New York, serving in the military during World War II. Of the four, two survived the war, but for a time it was believed that only one, Frederick Niland, had survived. Frederick was sent back to the United States to complete his service, and only later learned that his brother Edward, presumed dead, was actually captive in a Japanese POW camp in Burma. Steven Spielberg's film Saving Private Ryan is loosely based on the brothers' story.
The grave of Robert J. Niland. Forty-one sets of brothers are buried here, including two sons of President Theodore Roosevelt. Quentin Roosevelt was killed in aerial combat over France during WWI at the age of 20. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. also served in WWI and re-enlisted prior to the beginning of the U.S.'s participation in WWII. He suffered from health problems (arthritis, mostly from old World War I injuries, and heart trouble.) One month after landing at Utah Beach, he died of a heart attack in France at the age of 56.
The Chapel in the middle of all the headstones
Its mosaic ceiling depicts America blessing her sons as they depart by sea and air, and a grateful France bestowing a laurel wreath upon the American dead.
James reading a note left by a high school student who had researched this soldier's life before visiting the cemetery. There are 149 Stars of David here.
The Memorial, behind which is the Garden of the Missing, with the names of 1,557 soldiers who were never found.
The 22-foot statue is called "The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves."
The graves face westward, towards the United States.The Allies, especially the Americans, were dreading the reception of the local population to the D-Day invasion. Stuffed full of propaganda, hadn't the vast majority accepted Pétain, the puppet leader of German-controlled France? And how could they forgive the bombing, the death and destruction? Between 15,000 and 20,000 French civilians were killed in Normandy, mainly as a result of Allied bombing. Thousands more fled their homes to escape the fighting.
The response was beyond even the most optimistic predictions. The Normans, like the Mayor of Colleville pictured here, welcomed their liberators with joy and gratitude.
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