Memorial Day on Omaha Beach



On Memorial Day, May 27, 2024, I woke up in a hotel room, not 20 miles from Normandy Beach.  As I got dressed, I wondered what the day had in store for me.  Would it be joy, pain, or some emotion in between?

The two previous days were spent visiting memorials, museums and cemeteries in the area.  One of the more impressive museums was the Memorial Museum in Caen.  The museum introduces the visitors to what was happening in the world, leading up to D-Day.  Not only were there artifacts of the war, but also short documentaries, all in German, English and French.

We also went to the largest of 11 British military cemeteries in France.  As expected, it was well-kept and primed for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.  As I walked through the cemetery, I arbitrarily stepped closer to one of the gravestones to see what personal information the British put on their gravestones. To my surprise the name of the fallen soldier was YATES, my name.  I couldn’t believe it, what were the odds of that happening?

Breakfast was over and as I entered the hotel lobby on my way to get on the bus I saw my sister, retired Colonel Jane Yaws, also on the tour, standing at the front door of the hotel, handing out poppies to everyone on our tour. I can’t remember being prouder of her than I was at that moment.  Yes, she smiled and gave me a poppy.

During the drive to Omaha Beach, we watched part of a documentary on D-Day. It was a collaboration put together by the American and German governments, so it wasn’t slanted towards the Allies, but was objective, well-done and contained several surprising facts.

One that got my attention took place at Pointe du Hoc.  Pointe de Hoc is located between Utah Beach and Omaha Beach.  It is a large sheer-face cliff that could not be climbed or scaled without assistance.  The responsibility of taking Pointe de Hoc fell on two U.S. Ranger battalions.  The Rangers trained on a beach in England, using rocket launchers to propel grappling hooks to the top of a 75–100-foot wall. Once secured the Rangers would scale the wall. On D-Day the Rangers made land with minimal casualties and set up their rocket launchers. They had 40 grappling hooks at their disposal.  They began firing the grappling hooks up the cliff, but they fell short by 25-40 feet, with not one reaching the top.  In assessing their failure, it was determined that the ropes had gotten so wet during the landing that the extra weight of the water prevented the grappling hooks from travelling as far as they had during practice.  This possibility was not contemplated during practice, which never included a water landing as part of their practice. The Rangers broke open all of the crates containing the grappling hooks and found ten that weren’t as wet and tried using them.  Success!!  Despite not being able to use 75% of the grappling hooks, the Rangers were now able to scale the cliff and achieve their goal.  Unfortunately, 140 of the 225 Rangers were killed or injured due to this miscalculation.

Once we arrived at the parking area of Omaha Beach, we were told that we had an hour to view the monuments, memorials and walk the beach.  I spent the next hour alone, not wanting anyone else’s perspective as I moved from memorial to memorial, monument to monument.  Then I looked out over the English Channel, calm and serene.  Scattered clouds filled the air and the sun reflected off of the water.

Today it was ‘postcard worthy.’  No guns, no smoke, no screaming or crying.  No shells exploding, no cries of, “Medic”, nor the smell of death.  I walked towards the Channel until I was 40-50 feet from the water and turned to the west.  As far as I could see was Omaha Beach and beyond my view was Utah Beach.  I slowly scanned eastward until I was gazing at the reflection of the morning sun off of the water.  For as far as I could see, it was still Omaha Beach.  As I stood there in quiet reflection, I was glad that I was alone.  I didn’t want anyone to interrupt the feelings that I was processing.

As I walked back to the bus, two children were laughing and running on the beach.  They stopped and picked up some shells, then ran on.  They were oblivious to the significance of the ground on which they were playing, as well as the day itself.  I boarded the bus, it was quiet.  Any talking that was taking place was in whispers.  The significance of the ground that we had just walked on was not lost on us.

What a start to Memorial Day.  Next stop was the U.S. military cemetery at Normandy, followed by a ceremony and fly over.  Utah Beach would follow that. Could I handle it?

The day is over, what are my thoughts?  It was both the most rewarding, yet saddest day of my life.