National D-Day Memorial Part 2 WW SkywatchFriday

The town of Bedford lost more boys per capita on D-Day than the rest of the nation. If time permits, you may want to watch this National D-Day Memorial video.

Thank you for joining for my mid-week post, Not-so-Wordless Wednesday! Two weeks ago, I shared our adventure to the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia. Let’s continue our stroll. The life-like statues depicting the invasion grabbed my heart.

In the below photo, you can see the spray of water in the right bottom corner just in front of the Landing Craft. It replicates the sound of bullets hitting the water. It sent shivers down my spine and for an instant my mind transported to the beaches of Normandy.

Everything about the memorial site pulls me emotionally; just thinking about the bravery and sacrifice is unbelievable.

The Germans had the upper hand sitting at the top of the cliffs of Normandy, but God lead American servicemen and her allies in this battle to regain Frances’ freedom that day and the beginning of the end of Hitler’s strong hold on Europe. It wasn’t long afterwards the war was over.

I stood here looking below at the soldiers advancement toward the cliffs and I felt the fear those men felt. Despite the casualties, they kept going determined to crush the Nazis and to liberate France.

Conquering the cliffs!The Normandy invasion was known as the Overlord Operation. The monument bears the June 6th 1944 invasion date in the Overlord Arch’s height at 44 feet and 6 inches tall. I think that’s rather cool.

Under the Overlord Arch inscribed on the floor are these words:

In Tribute to the Valor, Fidelity, and Sacrifice of Allied Forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944

This is just an amazing site. I love this place and all that it represents! The best part is it’s privately funded. That means the U.S. Government can’t tell them how to run or what to or what not to display.

I liked how I was able to capture France’s flag in the background to the left of the Overlord Arch with this intriguing statue in foreground donated by appreciative Guy Wildenstein to the U.S. for liberating France and giving his parents refuge.

That concludes our outing at the National D-Day Memorial. I’m looking forward to going back for another photo-op. It’s truly an amazing place and if you’re in the area you then you’ll want to see it.

I’m sharing today’s photo contributions with the Wordless Wednesday community, you can find a listing under Daily Hops at the top of this page, and photo enthusiasts linking with Skywatch Friday.

Be sure to join me for Friday Sillies and other Friday fun hops. Have a fototastic day!

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34 comments

  1. Hi Cathy,
    First, thank you for visiting my SKYWATCH. I’m so sorry for just getting to yours but I have been battling an infection that has finally gotten better. I love your pictures and especially the ones with the beautiful blue sky. We have lots to be thankful for. It is because of men willing to put our lives before theirs that we enjoy freedom.
    All the best.
    Shalom aleichem,
    Patricia

  2. What an interesting post with great photos, Cathy! Thanks for the virtual tour.
    Thank you for joining the Travel Tuesday meme, hope to see more of your photos this week!

    1. Jammy, thanks for popping over for a visit and commenting. I’m glad you enjoyed my photo stroll through the memorial. BTW, I’m not sure how to get back to your blog. The URL you signed in with is broken. Have a fototastic day!

  4. Oh wow! I wish i could have visited when we were in VA last year! This is a wonderful site and I enjoyed your photos and the history of it immensely!
    Very moving and a clear reminder to all to value our God given liberties!
    thanks so much for your visit to my blog – much appreciated! i will follow along here too!

    1. Christine, I’m glad we have places like this to remind us of what it took for us to secure our freedom and that we should never take it for granted. There is always someone out there wanting to steal it away. The liberals are destroying our country and if we don’t do something about it then this great country is gone for good. Thanks for stopping by today!

  5. Thanks for sharing Cathy.
    The photos and information should be continuous, especially how easily we forget our history.

    1. Colette, I think these important points in history should never be forgotten and we need to be reminded of how easy it is for our liberties can be taken away by liberals. United we stand, divided we fall. God bless America!

  7. Wow! One day I would love to visit this in person. Just looking at your photos and reading your narrative sent chills all throughout my body, I can only imagine how much more powerful those emotions would be seeing it in person.

    1. Nita, soaking up the atmosphere is a bit chilling, but it was an honor to stand there in reminded of the price paid for our freedoms. I’ll be over to visit you later. Thanks for popping in!

    1. A world of peace is what ever one wants. Unfortunately, we’ll never achieve that on earth while fanatics, terrorists, and tyrants walk among us. I’m thankful there are courageous people who are willing to fight to keep us safe and free. Thank you for visiting, my friend.

  9. The sculptures’ poses are just so real! Thanks for sharing. I can only imagine the emotions while seeing this place.

    1. Merlinda, Thank you for stopping by to take a look at these photographs of such an amazing place and about some incredible people. 🙂

  10. This is a great post, Cathy! Thank you for sharing this memorial with all of us. What a treasure.

    When we participate in your not-so Wordless Wednesday, do we use the kitty pic at the top of your post? If so, do we just link it to your main blog URL, or to this post?

    Have a great night. 🙂

    1. Suzanne, I’m glad you all enjoyed the photos. Yes, when you use my not-so-WW banner you can link to my main URL. That keeps thing simple. I appreciate that you’re thinking about adding my banner to your site and to join in the fun. I’m honored. Have a fototastic day. I’m heading over to see you now!

      1. Thanks, Cathy. I have your adorable kitty not-so-WW banner on my tree post now. If I can figure out how to get blog buttons to fit in the McClendon Villa sidebar properly, I will add it there, too. Otherwise, I’ll see if I can put it at the bottom of the home page. I don’t have WordPress totally figured out yet. Thanks for visiting my post. Have a blessed day!

    1. Patrick, I’m thankful, as well. It’s an awe inspiring, yet humbling sense to stand in a place like this. I hope generations for years to come will feel this same grateful, overwhelming blessed sensation when they walk through this memorial. I appreciate you stopping in for a visit and linking up, my friend!

  13. Thank you for sharing these amazing photos. I had never heard of this memorial.

    1. I’m happy to introduce this place to many of my readers for the first time. We stumbled upon in last year while on a day trip on the Virginia end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, but didn’t get to visit. This year we made a point to go back just so we could visit the National D-Day Memorial and I’m glad that we did. It’s a beautiful, heart-touching place. Thanks for stopping by.

  14. What an impressive and beautiful monument to those brave souls!! I still have trouble watching the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan because the intensity of the invasion is just so intense. I remember just sitting in the theatre crying my eyes out — absolutely humbled by what those men faced and still pressed onward. Beautiful post my friend.

    1. Les, It would be hard to watch a movie such as Saving Private Ryan, especially with the better special effects movie making has with more recent films than in years past. It took some very special men to push through enemy fire to scale the cliffs and take control. The Overlord Operation was a pivotal point in WWII. We’re so blessed for the conservative leadership of the past. Canada stood shoulder to shoulder with the USA on France soil fighting the Germans in the wake of this victory.

  15. I enjoyed the photos Cathy and descriptions nice memorial 🙂

    Have a tanfastic week and don’t forget those second scales it will be worth it 😉

    1. Steve, when I was there I thought how blessed the USA was to have the U.K. as an allied in WWII, as well as the other wonderful friendly nations whose flags wave over the memorial. Thanks for stopping in for a visit, my friend, and have a funtastic week.

  16. Hi, Cathy!

    Mrs. Shady and I have seen the movie Saving Private Ryan several times and the invasion sequence at the beginning is very hard to watch. You’re right – it took courage unknown for those soldiers to control their fear, focus on the mission and press on amid the carnage. The Memorial looks like a fine tribute to those brave men.

    God bless!

    1. Tom, I have not seen Saving Private Ryan yet. I think we have it on DVD. One reason we haven’t watched it is because we heard some scenes were hard to watch. We really need to see it, though. When ever you and the wife vacation up that way next you might want to see the National D-Day Memorial. Thanks for popping over for a visit, my friend!

    1. Lee, if you’re close to Bedford, Virginia this trip then you may want to take a side trip to see this amazing spot. The admission fee isn’t horrible. For the two of us it was only $20. Afterwards, we converted our day pass for a yearly pass for only an additional $15. I think that’s really good deal. Now, we need to go back at least another time to break even. lol

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