Normandy remembered

[fredball]

This is amazing ... Normandy remembered




A large percentage of our country doesn't know of or care about Normandy. A few weekends ago, British artist Jamie, accompanied by numerous volunteers, took to the beaches of Normandy with rakes and stencils in hand to etch 9,000 silhouettes representing fallen people into the sand. Titled The Fallen 9000, the piece is meant as a stark visual reminder of those who died during the D-Day beach landings at Arromanches on June 6th, 1944 during WWII. The original team consisted of 60 volunteers, but as word spread nearly 500 additional local residents arrived to help with the temporary installation that lasted only a few hours before being washed away by the tide.

9,000 Fallen Soldiers Etched into the Sand on Normandy Beach to Commemorate Peace Day.



What is surprising is that nothing about this was seen here in the US.


Someone from overseas had a friend that sent it with a note of gratitude for what the US started there. Please share with others who understand "freedom is not free-- nor has it ever been"

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[salmonriverjohn]

Understood here, I lost two uncles at Omaha beach and one in Anzio.

 

[Hop Sing]

Wow. Amazing and sobering stuff.

 

[Jamie6.5]

Understood here, I lost two uncles at Omaha beach and one in Anzio.

I just found out last year that one of my mom's brothers died at Omaha Beach.
I was amazed.

Thanks for posting Fred.

 

[fredball]

My Father was a pilot flew P-47 Thunderbolts and was awarded 3bronze stars and I never knew any of it till his funeral one of the guys he went to war with came up to me and we sat down and he told stories of his and my fathers exploits and how my dad was shot down twice and other scary shirt ,That Vintage didn't talk about it wish he had .
I'll post a picture I have of him standing in front of what he flew

 

[Ura-Ki]

My Grand Dad was a part of the third wave across the beach at Omaha, and I lost one Uncle there as well, three Uncles to Okinawa and five cousins all over the pacific theater! My Dads older Brother was a gunners mate aboard the U.S.S. New Mexico, and he passed away three years later after 1946, at the age of 26!!! I Know the cost of freedom, My family has payed that cost in blood!!!

 

[Andy54Hawken]

On the 50th Anniversary of the Normandy Landings we jumped in ... Got to talk to a lot of veterans who jumped in 1944.
It was a very cool experience.

Cool posting Fred ... Thanks for sharing.
Andy

 

[CountryGent]

Thank you for posting the pictures, fredball. That project provides a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made that day. And for that matter, that conflict.

My mother's uncle served on the USS Liscome Bay and went down with said aircraft carrier when she was torpedoed in November 1943. We still have his medals, including the Purple Heart.

My best friend in childhood had a grandfather who would take us kids hunting, fishing, and clamming. He told us stories of his time in Europe, including the time he and his partner captured a couple SS officers. He still had the Walther P38 from one of them and a beautiful Drilling combination gun he liberated later. One time I was over there was a brief news blurb on TV about something involving Dachau. He turned ghostly white and sat down without saying a word. Later the grandmother explain to us kids he was there around the time it was liberated. God only knows what horrors that kindly old man saw there.

 

[Mister Bisley]

Per their website, it happened in 2013. Pretty awesome nonetheless. Freedom is not free and always comes with the cost of human casualty. Something the "Flag burners" will never understand. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MrMillspecer]

Thank you and them for the reminder. My grandpa was a glider plot and grandmother was a nurse. They met in the military. Glad they made it home safe.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I sure wish my Grand Dad would have shared his stories more, wasn't until I came back from A-stan that he shared with me, and me alone many of those stories and the horrors he saw. He passed a few months later! Grand Mother said that him sharing with me was the best thing he ever did, and he some how had finally found a little inner piece!

 

[Mister Bisley]

I have quite a few family members who have served during wartime. Three (counting in-laws) grandfathers in WWII and two uncles in Vietnam. None of them like to tell their stories. I believe it is just too painful for them. I have read a memoir of my favorite uncle and best friend, of his extremely detailed accounts of battle in Vietnam and it is not pretty. I can't even imagine living through it, let alone the weight these heros carry on their shoulders for the rest of their days. I am grateful they all made it back and were a part of my life. God bless our troops!!

 

[ob1]

The original team consisted of 60 volunteers, but as word spread nearly 500 additional local residents arrived to help with the temporary installation that lasted only a few hours before being washed away by the tide.

It's good to see that the local French expressed their appreciation. If D-Day had happened here locally, I doubt you could even interest a younger group of 500 to show up unless there was something to vandalize or complain about.

My families participation was in the Pacific, including an uncle who lied about his age of 15 to serve. He later saw 92 of his shipmates burn alive during a mass Kamikaze attack.


Thinking of those kids in the 40's, compared to a sizeable chunk of the current crop makes me want to cry.

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Thanks for sharing, Fred!
Bless each and every soul that those images represent!