European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 6, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Is Jujj amp so Quot in a i is in tour visitors pause to reflect50 years later sights still sobering by eff Fie Batman staff writer today on Utah Beach you can hear the wind. Farther East along the Normandy coast at Pointe do hoc the grass is mowed neatly even inside old Shell craters. At Omaha Beach tour guides have a hard time getting american gis Back on the buses once they discover that French women sunbathe topless. These Are a few of the sights and sounds that Greet visitors to once bloody a Day battlefields of France. A half Century after the Battle of Normandy the tide was out at Utah Beach and the wind was blowing Billows of White Clouds Over a sleek stretch of said some 300 Yards wide. The Thunder of 5&s Effi Bathen German grins was Long Nancy Miller.  of a group of recent american visitors strolling and picking up rusted clumps of Metal were Jimmy and Nancy Miller. They found what they thought might be a Bayonet or knife. Shells were set deep in years of  Miller a Captain stationed at Kapaun air station near Kaiserslautern Germany has two uncles who were in the a Day invasion. Be Uncle Bud Smalley was a paratrooper the satellite communications officer said. The other Uncle Clyde Mabry flew a p-47 Thunderbolt from a unit returning for this years ceremonies. Uncle Bud never talked about his role on that Long Day in june 1944. He angrily told family. Members that if they had seen what he had seen they would not be talking about it either. Jimmy said he found the battlegrounds sobering. A. The Normandy Battles brought americans to Germany Nancy pointed out. In Germany Thea. A a a. A. A amps. Eff Bothan a sign at , France reminds the French that they said thank you to English speaking visitors in 1944 and should say Welcome this year. A Millers had become Good friends with a German family. Their daughters play together. A remember that the germans were the Good Guys a her German neighbor often jokingly tells his daughter. A yeah but it was the americans who won a Nancy Good Nat redly answers Back. The Millers had also visited the american cemetery on a Pine Bluff above Omaha Beach where the bloodiest fighting took place. They walked among 9,386 grave markers. A if it weren to for those Guys that died Here a she said a we  have our friends a the tour also stopped at the Cliffs of Pointe do hoc where american rangers paid a High Price today a sign warns visitors to be aware of the Slippery grass slopes a the Cliff is Beautiful but very dangerous a under cries of seagulls several rows of barbed wire keep curious visitors from getting too close to the Edge. A a there a Good fishing out there a said the groups tour guide Michael Grigsby. On longer Tours he brings people up to the Point on the tour boat colonel rudder so that they can see the View the rangers had when they approached from the Channel. It. Col. E. James rudder led the rangers who scaled the Point. At Omaha Beach the Shoreline drive lies Between the Beach and the 60-foot Hillside that overlooks it. In 1944, Allied intelligence reports indicated that a German infantry division of polish and russian conscripts and Over aged soldiers might prove to be a weak defense. But a crack German unit was called in unexpectedly. From the High ground they could shoot directly into the Landing Craft. On its visit Grigsby a Small group stood in the Sand and observed a moment of silence for those who fell to the 54s Ehin Bath a German bullets. Michael Grigsby a when you be seen the movie the longest Day a it All looks different when you be been Here a said Grigsby a Veteran of the korean War. Later traveler Edward Collier said that he regretted that he did not ask his father More about what he had done in the War. He Only Learned that his father had Frozen feet from fighting in the Snow. He also met the russians in Berlin. And he had a few photos of russian and French girlfriends. Acc he did no to like to talk about it. His unit was involved with the liberation of a concentration Camp a said Collier the chief of physical therapy at the army Hospital in Lan Stuhl Germany. A i done to have any animosity towards the germans a Albina Titus reflected after a visit to . Her brother a paratrooper died in the fighting at a Stogie Belgium during the Battle of the bulge. �?o1 Felt proud that he was with the  she wanted to visit the French City where so Many paratroops lost their lives she said because of the Bond that All airborne soldiers have. For years she has. Worked with local veterans groups working on memorial projects. A a it a like the civil War people have forgotten about it a she said. A fifty years from now will it be the same a. An overwhelmingly positive attitude toward americans in the Region did not go unnoticed by Susie Dickert a teacher from Ramstein a in Germany. She had seen Well lettered signs in Many windows we Welcome our liberators. A my father always taught me that the War was a monumental undertaking a she said. A it surprised me that the i Rench still Sec it As if it was  a amps. Effi Bothen Albina Titus june 6, 1994 a stars and stripes commemorative edition 49