Yesterday marked the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings on the Cotentin Peninsula of Northern France. The next step in wresting tyranny from the Axis powers and returning freedom to the people of Europe after years of occupation.
My father landed on Utah Beach as an infantry replacement following the initial invasion. He was a machine gunner in a weapons platoon. He spent more time training for his assignment than fulfilling it. He was wounded in September in the liberation of Belgium. Repatriated to England to recover from his wounds he returned after the surrender of Germany to serve briefly in the Army of Occupation before returning stateside.
Quite the adventure for a 20 year-old man who came of age in the depression years.
Anyway, on our first trip to France we traced his unit's movements In the Bocage of the Norman countryside. Some photos from the beachhead and the first objective; the town of Sainte-Marie-du-Mont....
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment