Omaha Beach Memorial — Attraction in Bayeux

I've been to Omaha beach many times and like, I am sure, thousands of people, I have read every book and document I could get my hands on detailing the struggle of the 6th June 1944 and the days which followed. As A British person who has had the honour of meeting veterans from all Allied armies which fought on D-Day, when I stand at the top of any of the bluffs above the beach or go out to the waterline, I think of events of that day, and of the lives back in the USA which were affected by the wounds and deaths which occurred here. I feel the same when I go to Juno, Gold, Sword or any of the Airbourne combat zones. As a history graduate, and I would humbly now call myself a fair expert on many of the historical details of Omaha beach, I must say that there is so much which appeared on German maps and POW testimony prior to and after that day which makes me think that we do not know enough about the German positions which guarded this beach. So much is buried, or was likely destroyed by the Naval gunfire. So many contradictions lie within the testimony of the German defenders in particular, for understandable reasons. But an archaeological dig in certain places, for the purposes of revealing more of this beach's story, would in my opinion be justified. People need to know where they are walking and know more, if possible, about the stories of the men from both sides who fought here so...

Loss for words. What can I say? What can anyone say? What happened here in 1944 was nothing short of heroic. They were practically kids fighting for freedom of the French against a demonic power that was the German army. I get chills just thinking about what they went through. Climbing over the dead, attempting to get off the beach as quickly as possible. I know it was a great triumph, and the element of "surprise" was undoubtedly epic, but was it really a win when so many lives were lost? If you put a million troops against a couple thousand, aren't you always going to win? You may have high casualties, but the fact that you overrun the area with troops should, technically speaking, come out with the win. Im babbling at this point. Never did I think this until I was standing on the beach. As the sun is setting, the only thing I can hear is the breeze as myself and 2 others quietly read the memorials of these men who gave their lives so I can live in freedom. It almost seems inhumane not to get emotional at a time like this. God bless everyone who was/is in any way, no matter how miniscule, involved with our armed forces, then and now. From across the pond in my cozy little house in Phoenix, I could never imagine the feeling I have at this very moment. Thank you for your service...

This is not a museum and it is not a cemetery. This is a monument that is dedicated to the 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army, nicknamed “The Big Red One” because of the division insignia on the left sleeve of the soldiers’ uniforms. The monument sits on the dividing line between Dog Red and Easy Green sectors, the segments of beach that were assigned to E Co. and F Co., 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. The 116th was attached to the Big Red One for the invasion as part of Force O. G Co. mainly landed on Dog Red after its boats drifted off course from their assigned sector, Dog White. Smoke from grass fires shielded the three or four sections on Dog Red, so G Co. suffered few losses to "sporadic and inaccurate" small arms fire as they moved across the tidal flats. Most of G Co. reached the shingle intact 10-15 minutes after landing. F Co. mostly landed in its assigned sector, Dog Red, but directly in front of the strongly fortified German positions at Les Moulins, and was disorganized due to losses of officers. E Co., assigned to Easy Green, ended up east of Fox Green with E Co. of the 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st...