Our first stop, atop the dramatic coastal cliffs adjacent to Omaha Beach, served to place in a geographical context the Allied struggle in creating a beach head in the summer of 1944. At this beach spot where today children make the most of sand and surf are the remains of an artificial harbor now seen as concrete monoliths, former gun emplacements on the cliff-top and the American, French and British memorials to the conflict. Backing on to Omaha Beach is the Normandy American Cemetery. Within this 170 acre sacred space are interred 9,387 servicemen and women, 307 of which are Unknown but to God. There are 1,557 names in the Garden of the Missing.
At Bayeux another landing is commemorated. The world-famous tapestry is actually an embroidered hanging in wool, on linen, commissioned in 1066, and created over an eleven-year period. It was intended as an adornment for Bayeux Cathedral. It depicts scenes and scenarios from the conquest of England. The main character is Guillaume, Duke of Normandy, better known as William the Conqueror. It is a record of intrigue and even conspiracy. In the plot the Saxon (English ) Harold usurps William's right to the crown of England. The Norman gathers a fighting force, crosses the Channel, and defeats Harold's army at the Battle of Hastings. This was the beginning of yet another continental presence in Britain and Ireland that influenced all sectors of society for centuries to come.
Despite the distance in time these two landings both were turning points in world history. And we might say we touched those events to some degree.
