John 15:13 says “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” On Wednesday our whole family went on a nine hour D-Day Normandy tour and it was, quite honestly, one of the most memorable and moving experiences I’ve ever had. Our group was small, only eight people plus the guide. We began our tour in the little village of Ste. Marie Eglise. It was a landing site for some paratroopers from the 101st Airborne division and it waws featured in the movie The Longest Day. Our guide, Julian, was from the south of England and was a wealth of knowledge about WWII and especially D-Day and the tactics that led up to it. We left the first site having a greater respect for paratroopers and how difficult their job was.
Our tour continued at a tiny village called Angoville-Au-Plain. In this town of only 43 people, two medics set up an aid station in the little church and even thought one had received a week of training and the other only one day of training, together they saved the lives of 80 wounded men and one child. In this church was the first place I saw a stained glass window with John 15:13.
Our tour then took us to Utah Beach where part of the invasion force landed on June 6, 1944. As the invasion unfolded, the troops landed in the wrong spot but that proved providential as they encountered the weakest opposition and less than 20 men were killed. At Utah Beach, the memorial also had John 15:13 inscribed.
At a site called Pointe du Hoc, we saw the remains of Nazi bunkers and machine gun nests and craters from the shells and bombs of 64 years ago. It was somewhat surreal. At Pointe du Hoc, the soldiers had to climb up sheer cliffs in 30 seconds or less while being shot at.
From Pointe du Hoc it was a short drive to Omaha Beach. It was at Omaha Beach that John 15:13the American invasion force paid the highest price in terms of lives lost. Out of a landing force of 34,000 at Omaha Beach, 1,700 were killed on the beach itself and another 2,500 lost their lives scaling the cliffs or taking the stronghold. Standing on that beach where so many lives were lost was quite an emotional experience for me but that was mild compared to when we arrived at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.
Even thought I do not personally know anyone buried there, a wave of emotion of gratitude and sorrow flooded over me. That peaked when we were able to meet 90-year-old Mike Fitch from South Carolina who was there to visit the graves of friends who died right beside him on June 6, 1944. He was a survivor of Omaha Beach and graciously spoke with us for a few minutes. It is hard to describe in words the feeling of seeing so many graves of people, over 9,000 in all, who died in such a short period of time—in a sense for me, to preserve the freedom I enjoy every day.
This experience has changed forever the way I see those who serve in the armed forces. I have always been appreciate and grateful, but after coming to Normandy, I will always see these events and people in a totally different light.
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” What then is to be said of love that gives it’s life for someone it never even met? Incredible! The only thing greater is the love of Christ Himself.
Our tour continued at a tiny village called Angoville-Au-Plain. In this town of only 43 people, two medics set up an aid station in the little church and even thought one had received a week of training and the other only one day of training, together they saved the lives of 80 wounded men and one child. In this church was the first place I saw a stained glass window with John 15:13.
Our tour then took us to Utah Beach where part of the invasion force landed on June 6, 1944. As the invasion unfolded, the troops landed in the wrong spot but that proved providential as they encountered the weakest opposition and less than 20 men were killed. At Utah Beach, the memorial also had John 15:13 inscribed.
At a site called Pointe du Hoc, we saw the remains of Nazi bunkers and machine gun nests and craters from the shells and bombs of 64 years ago. It was somewhat surreal. At Pointe du Hoc, the soldiers had to climb up sheer cliffs in 30 seconds or less while being shot at.
From Pointe du Hoc it was a short drive to Omaha Beach. It was at Omaha Beach that John 15:13the American invasion force paid the highest price in terms of lives lost. Out of a landing force of 34,000 at Omaha Beach, 1,700 were killed on the beach itself and another 2,500 lost their lives scaling the cliffs or taking the stronghold. Standing on that beach where so many lives were lost was quite an emotional experience for me but that was mild compared to when we arrived at the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.
Even thought I do not personally know anyone buried there, a wave of emotion of gratitude and sorrow flooded over me. That peaked when we were able to meet 90-year-old Mike Fitch from South Carolina who was there to visit the graves of friends who died right beside him on June 6, 1944. He was a survivor of Omaha Beach and graciously spoke with us for a few minutes. It is hard to describe in words the feeling of seeing so many graves of people, over 9,000 in all, who died in such a short period of time—in a sense for me, to preserve the freedom I enjoy every day.
This experience has changed forever the way I see those who serve in the armed forces. I have always been appreciate and grateful, but after coming to Normandy, I will always see these events and people in a totally different light.
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends,” What then is to be said of love that gives it’s life for someone it never even met? Incredible! The only thing greater is the love of Christ Himself.
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