2004-06-15
in memorium

09:30

It is often said that one needs a vacation after their vacation. I rather feel the same way. I am tired. I met up with my parents in Rouen at the train station (they were an hour late due to trying to rent a car and not speaking a word of French) Friday evening and off we went, staying only one or two nights in each location. This nomad style seems to be the rule rather than the exception for my trips over here!

Saturday, we wandered around Rouen, before meeting up with our tour group for a crazy, white-knuckled drive to the US Cemetary near Caen to pick up our badges for the next day before the place closed. There was cause for concern as no badge, no entrance into the memorial next day. After visiting the big guns at Longues Marches and a failed attempt to cross Pegasus Bridge (scene of a v. accurate drop by the British on D-Day), we headed to dinner. Afterwards, met up with the rest of the group (only 7 of us were going to the US Memorial at the US Cemetery on Omaha Beach the next day, the rest, about 30, going to the British one on Sword Beach) and watched the most amazing fireworks show that I have ever seen over Sword Beach. There were five sets of fireworks being set off just on that Beach alone, and it was incredible how they all remained in synch. It was esp. nice to see fireworks as I will not see them for July 4th, car pour quelque raison, that is not celebrated here. Go figure. ;)

Back to the hotel around 2 a.m., then up again and leaving at 6 a.m. (Rouen was about 2, 2.5 hours away) to make it in time - gates closed at 9 a.m. when President Bush arrived. It was a v. impressive and moving service, with speeches given by both Bush and French President Chirac (I understood him - yay! - mostly due to the fact that he spoke loudly, slowly, and clearly), there were wreaths laid, prayers given, taps played, planes flown, heads bowed, flags lowered, comrades remembered, and tears shed.

There were a lot of veterans there, and as Omaha Beach had been the landing site of the 29th Infantry Division, there was plenty of the Blue and Gray to be seen. My dad waded in after the ceremony and started to talk to them to see if he could track down any cronies of Uncle Lowell who had been in the 29th, 116th. No luck, but dad did enjoy talking to them. Incidentally, my uncle had been invited to return for the 50th ten years ago, all-expenses paid, but he vowed that when he left Europe, he was not going to go back, and he never did. It's so hard for us who were never there to imagine, but it was so horrible for him. He had landed on D-Day at H-Hour, on the bloodiest beach, Omaha, and had managed to survive, when so many had not. It was just too traumatic for him to return.

Unfortunately, I did not get to walk down to the beach. The local authorities had been called in and everything not immediately pertaining to the ceremonies was blocked off - beaches, roads, overpasses, etc. There was someone guarding even the smallest farm track. It was well done, and compared to the shambles of ten years ago (according to our guide, Robin), it was a million times better organized.

After the ceremony, we piled into the car and drove around until the ceremony at Utah Beach. We went through Ste. Mere du Mont and Carentan, and stopped at Brecourt Field, the site where Easy Company performed their textbook maneuver of disabling the German guns. While there, we ran into a troupe of guys all decked out in the 101st Airbourne attire. They were all history buffs, so made sure that they had everything correct, down to the D-rings on their helmets, the tools in their belts, and the grease under their fingernails. Some parts of their costumes were even original. The 101st was American, but these guys spoke with British, Irish, Scottish, and even a couple of French and German (!) accents. It was wonderful to see how they worshiped Easy Company and with how much respect they spoke of the actual paratroopers. To complete the picture, they had an original jeep with them, and different ranks - even had a CO who ordered them to move about and lined them up for a picture for us. Don't worry, I will definitely put that one up right away!

We made our way over to Utah Beach for the second memorial of the day - very similar to the one at Omaha, but with a few different people giving the speeches (Presidents Bush and Chirac had joined Gerhardt Schroeder and the UK contingent - the Queen and Tony Blair at the main memorial at Arromanches). This time, I did get to go on the beach a little.

Afterwards, we headed home, making it back to Rouen around 9:30 for dinner before plopping into bed, exhausted and sunburnt.

The rest of the trip will come later as I have spent quite a long time on just the D-Day Memorials, which is fitting, I think. But first, while I am talking of memorials, President Reagan died on Saturday a week past. At first, I thought that it was unnecessary to mention his name at the D-Day memorials, and for me it took away a little of the solemnity of the occaion, but it turns out that this was a personal courtesy that would have been accorded to any world leader (former or present) who had died just prior to such a gathering. So, I retract that statement, and I do see that it was the decent thing to do.

They memorialized him for a whole week, however, which seems perhaps a bit excessive for someone who effectually passed from the public's view over ten years ago when he announced his diagnosis of Alzheimer's. On the other hand, he was a very good president and, more importantly, a good man, who surrounded himself with good people and admitted his mistakes. Perhaps it is only the cynicism of the present looking through the rose-colored glasses of the past, but it seems hard to find such a man these days. So, I cannot truly say that I resent the week-long tribute which not only paid homage to his achievements, but also did not shirk from his mistakes.

I remember that Princess Diana, and even the Queen Mum, certainly received as much, if not more, attention (at least in the US), and while they were much more in the public eye at the time of their deaths than was Reagan, it is unfair to begrudge one their due homage and not the other. Furthermore, my JSC colleagues can correct me, but I believe that the US flag is lowered for a week (a month?) upon the death of a president. I am no historian, and I was too young to remember much of his presidency, but I do know that he did more good than harm, and in this world, isn't that all we can really ask for? In the end, a week is not too much to ask for tribute to such a man. So, God bless President Reagan, God bless America, and God bless us all, everyone.

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