European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse One Soldier continued from Page 23 ashore hit by enemy fire the Shell slicing a a Crescent shaped Gash in his a Many Many Many things Are very vivid a a Bradbury explained last month at his Home in Fairfield Conn. As he recounted his memories tears welled up in his eyes. Memory took him Back on Utah approaching the Beach in an Early wave. A i saw machine gun fire go Between menus legs a he began. A dead bodies being rolled and washed with the Waves. A we hear the shots coming at us but we could feel them deep Down in the ear. When they came close you Felt it mighty bad like a. Sting. Gis at Utah invaded the land of the cows Joseph Owen staff writer if the troops who took Utah Beach in 1944 Ever needed a password Here it should have been they had invaded the land of cows. Say what you will about the historic nature of this soggy weather beaten coastal Plain it was cow country for centuries before a Day and its still cow country. Chances Are Good that while you re inspecting some a Day Monument Road Marker or statue Here several pairs of Bovine eyes will be inspecting you. The traditional guns or Buiter theory of economics does no to apply Here. The Region earns its living from both yesterdays guns and today a Dairy products a and Little else. The tourist office in care Tan offers a free map of a Day invasion Sites. You also can get a map of the a Norman cheese route there. But cheese fanciers and War wonks Are advised to postpone visiting the area until sometime after the a Day 50th anniversary ceremonies. The traffic will be lighter and the crowds will be gone., you can visit the Utah Beach museum at la Madeleine rebuilt As a sort of giant tilted Stone Hatbox. During Early june on the other hand the Only vacant Beds probably will be the berths in sunken warships. Audrey Musk a travel agent from Baltimore was trudging through the Sand near the museum one Day in March. Two of her uncles were in the a Day invasion Only one survived it she said fortunately her attempt to Book local hotel rooms for a veterans of foreign wars chapter also survived. A a they be had their reservations made for two years to come Here they re All excited a Musk said. A behind her barbed wire spun a protective web around the fragile Dune grass. Clouds boiled Over the English Channel darkly like a volcanoes plume. The Channel itself Lay stratified in starkly contrasting bands of White surf Brown shallows aquamarine Depths and a a when we hit the Beach we scattered. At that time there was nobody shooting at us. We were a couple of Kilometres South of where we were supposed to land. So now we. Done to see any of the landmarks they a beat into our not Long after he was wounded. There was not much to do in the Aid station but look around. But what sights. A a Quot a a saw a Messer Schnitt come in Low a he i recounted. A saw the .50-caliber shells Hita the fabric of the plane. The Pilot opens the canopy lifts himself out Over the Side and jumps. His Chute does no to open i saw him hit the Beach. Instantly he was surrounded by men in All directions. A i done to know what happened to him then. I never found oat. The plane hit on the left Wing and catapulted. The whole thing happened in front of Mei like a a the next morning the Aid station was barraged with hellfire. A Shell exploded close to Bradbury still lying of the litter he was carried in on sending burning Lead into his right lung. It cd i Felt a hot St Frog. I could feel and hear the sizzling of the flesh my a medic was quickly helping him slipping him into a morphine coma to relieve the pain. A next time i come to a he said. A a in Mon the deck of a ship laying under a Battery of guns. I remember these guns being fired again and again. I thought i was in a that was it for the War for me a Bradbury sighed. A a in be always had this guilty feeling that i let my buddies every june 6 since then he has taken the Day a it a a Holiday for me a Day to remember what those Guys did for this country.�?�., a.1 ,. S4s Joseph own Normandy cattle gather earlier this year in the Shadow of a German Bunker on Utah Beach. Dark Blue horizon. The Beach was completely vacant. Most Utah area memorials Are near the museum. A raised Terrace overlooking the Beach bears Bronze markers that Point to the a Day. Location of Allied ships and indicates the distance to each. Beneath the Steps and on nearby pillars inscriptions pay homage to Vii corps troops who landed there. A painted Highway Marker beside one of the seawall breaches notes that it stands at Kilometre 00 of a Voic de la Liberty Liberty Trail the path of the allies eastward drive across France. A Tablet on a coastal fortification identifies it As the site occupied by 1st engr special brigade to direct . Operations along the coast. Across the Street in the cafe a Deba Quement where invasion oriented postcards and books Are on Sale brigade commander Eugene m. Caffey is the subject of several photographs and news clippings plastered across an inside Wall maj. Gen. Caffey who died in 1961, eventually became judge advocate general of the army. Other than that la Madeleine is no More than a few scattered Stone farmhouses and a Checkerboard of soggy Fields and marshes. The Village is part of , the Center of which is three Miles Inland to the Southwest past the Roadside Monument to the danish sailors of a Day. The whole town has about 800 people and 1,000 head of cattle according to the mayor Jean Lavillon Niere. Agriculture occupies most residents including Lavillon Niere himself who specializes in artificial insemination of cows. The germans occupied Normandy for Only four years. Their cows Are having better Luck. In , the Stock is evenly divided Between Normandy cattle and the More recently arrived Holstein cattle. Holstein milk can to be turned into cheese however. A a that a something that makes us very sad a Lavillon Niere said. The drive North of la Madeleine along the Beach Road passes the scattered abandoned remains of Adolf hitlers Atlantic Wall. A sign advertises snacks and Pony rides another offers a Mobile Home for rent. Each Road is named for a fallen . Soldier. About 30 or 40 cows distance two Miles North of la Madeleine another Monument stands at . This Orte commemorates the August 1944 Landing of the 2nd French army div exiled forces that formed part of it. Gen. George s. Patton . 3rd minutes of additional driving along the coast brings the visitor to Qunneville the site of a German gun Battery and the Northwestern Edge of the Allied Advance by Midnight on a Day. Along the route scarred and litter packed German coastal gun Erh placements reign silently Over an Empire of Cockle shells and Sand. History buffs might consider visiting two other museums in the area a Liberty museum in Qunneville and the Parachute shaped airborne museum in nearby . Aj1 the sights listed above it should be noted Are in a compact area that can be seen easily in half a Day. After that if the cows Haven to overwhelmed you by the time you get to Ste. Mere eglise you might want to visit its farming museum. Done to forget the password
