European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse The memories live Story and by Ann Mulligan junk iw4 a Windy nol the kind of Day to spend at the but by 6 thou Sands of and Canadian were storming the shores they called Omaha and a fierce barrage poured from German occupied bunkers on the dunes above the death toll would be it was Day in Norman France the beginning of the end for hitlers this june Omaha and Utah beaches among the finest in Europe will be dotted with trea sure Hunters and history buffs will comb the dunes for the occasional Rusty Bayonet or helmet that still sightseers will Amble Down from the american Battle monuments commission is geared for huge crowds during its annual Day ceremonies at the in some ways French Normandy has both turned Back he clock toll prewar Beauty and still forced ahead with its Ivy covered Stone cottages and simple chateaus line the twisting country Small herds of Dairy cattle give milk that modern creameries will churn into the regions famous fruit Trees Bud with applet for the Moonshine like Brandy priced by tourists and locals but in some ways its still time is Frozen in the d Day monuments in every town in the score of my in the massive bunkers that loom from strategic Points on the and in the Par like cemeteries Fil cd with the names of soldiers who will never go while the Clannish Little towns have covered up the scars from four years of nazi tyranny and months of Allied in some Way the normans dont want to Bury they still remember that they were chosen first for do not forget pleads a thickly accented voice at the close of a film show at the arro Manches Day museum near Omaha like Many town have set aside an area for a personal display of the events that occurred in their area you study a lockup of the Mulberry artificial Harbor built by the then glance through the window to the Beach outside the and the half submerged hulks of whats left of the piece of the Parachute comp shaped airborne museum near llah Beach is dedicated to the men who silent 1 dropped behind the enemy lines the night before the big the display Center is crammed captured and donated Memorabilia ranging from a full sized glider to a Lea Napkin supposedly used by the airborne museum is located just off the town Square in a Village that looks like the set for a War movie because it Mereb close claims to be the first town liberated by the allies because ii was a drop zone for snipers Lay waiting in the Church Tower of the Market kentuckian John steel a was horrified when his rigging snagged on the Church he played dead for hours in Plain Stew of the enemy years later Steele came Back to the same Steeple with a Hollywood film Crew to reenact the event Lor the the longest another preservation of Day is the string of several serve As monuments or tiny others Crouch silently among the you can clamber inside the four foot thick rotate a few of the Rusty gun tubes and peer out at the English Channel wondering what the German soldiers were thinking when the Mist the morning of june 6th to reveal an Armada of Allied the largest naval invasion in now chief Gardener for the military Ceme Tery overlooking Omaha remembers the morning of june like other French he was pressed into service setting mines along the High tide would cover the obstacles and the nazis were sure an if would be launched at High but june 6 was a Low tide still wearing a traditional Beret and Riding a bicycle to says his most vivid memory was the sounds he heard from his hiding place that morning the sounds of nazi soldiers crashing through the underbrush in a desperate Rush to escape their falling the american cemetery where Robert works contains the bodies of Over Gas who fell in fighting throughout the British and germans also have cemeteries and a visit to each nations graveyard is an interesting near la Cambe on the main Road youll Sec the sign Low tide at Omaha Deutsc hos sold Aton Friedhof indicating the German the memorial is carefully stiffly and rarely visited by a Central Marker is inscribed in German and ending with the god has the last a guest Book is spotted with remarks like never if German cemeteries seem visit the British burial site in Bay Aux for a heart tugging the German and grave site markers give Only the briefest vital statistics about the but the British apparently asked each mourning family to add a line or two to the one Headstone lists a 19yearold sol Dier with the we do not know your but we know you were mum and the cemetery was also designed to be a memorial to the whole invasion explains Gene the Pip smoking assistant superintendent at Omaha the sole cemetery in the Ameri can Battle monuments commission keeps retired Ameri can vets at each grave site to Aid keep the huge landscape Crews arrange and act As ambassadors in the nearby a retired air Force senior master lives with his family at the Edge of the 172 acre most of the visitors Dellinger sees Are Day vet Erans returning with their but the events jumped out of the pages of history one Day when Silver haired Man walked into the cemetery and spent As Dellinger tells like be was looking for i kept watching him and when 1 was alone in my he came in and asked to speak to an Ameri Dellinger remembers that he identified himself and sat Back prepared to answer the routine but this Man tells me Hes a former nazi officer and this is his first time Back to then he Breaks Down and starts cuing or he told me he knew Hitler was bad but he followed orders anyway and now us responsible for All those Graves out he told me he Felt like he was carrying around a tremendous guilt All these Dellinger admits he didst know what to say in face of the confession so he just asked the strange visitor if hed like to sign the guest but the Guy told me he want Good enough for tears were coming Down his he said he just came Back to find an american and unburden himself then he walked out the got in his and dolling or Learned that Are As much for the living As for the and Normandy is As much a part of the present As it is of Page 12 the stars and stripes o Oman i8s1 to Cooke Iff
