Guest Post from Dad/Larry Schmidt/Hondo

Here is my Dad's post word for word. Way to go Dad!

Larry’s Guest Blog

Caroline has been after me to do a guest blog and after a week back home and catching up all around I finally had time to do it. I’ll concentrate about our day in Normandy but first a word about Paris. In a single word, it was (as Caroline would say) “awesome”. Several things particularly surprised me about the city. First, it is huge, yet clean. Much better than most American cities I have visited. Second, it is quite impressive in terms of things to do and see. The history and art are simply astounding. Finally, the food and people were terrific. The food was what I expected and more. As to the people, Caroline is right, if you offer a smile or greeting (even in fractured French); they respond with a smile and usually in English. Particular highlights include the Eiffel Tower (much taller and grander than I imagined), the Church known St. Chapel (magnificent stained glass windows) and Les Invalids (originally a hospital for Napoleon’s soldiers but now a military museum with an impressive collection). Linda and I enjoyed the trip immensely. We loved all the sites and the entire experience. I also had a great time with daughter number 3; who has matured (in part, I think, due to her experience abroad) into an inquisitive, confident and worldly young woman. We know she has enjoyed the experience immensely and we are so proud of her. In any event, more about Normandy.

Unlike our bus tour earlier that week to Mont St. Michael, the Normandy tour was on a smaller scale. We were picked up at our hotel in a min-van by Pierre, our driver and guide. We then went to another hotel to pick up two more guests, but were advised that they were ill and cancelled. We then picked up Kim and Kimmie, an aunt/niece combo. Aunt Kimmie lives in Paris for a year while her husband is assigned overseas as part of his job at Johnson and Johnson. Niece Kimmie was from California, a college sophomore, visiting as a birthday present. Thus, the five of us (plus Pierre) took off early in the morning for the slightly less than three hour drive to Normandy. I tried not to bore our new found friends with insignificant trivia about World War II, but failed miserably. As usual, I couldn’t shut up.

For you non-historians out there, Normandy is in western France and abuts the English Channel. It is largely an agricultural area, dotted with small towns and villages. By 1944, World War II had raged in Europe for nearly five years. After early success, the tide against Germany and Hitler’s war machine had turned. The Russians had stopped the German invasion of the then Soviet Union and were beginning an advance that would ultimately end with the capture of Berlin and Hitler’s suicide in late April, 1945. The British and American armies has reclaimed and expelled Hitler’s legions from Africa, conquered Sicily in the Mediterranean and had invaded and were moving up the boot of Italy. Stalin (the Russian leader) demanded that the Americans and British open a second front in Europe to take the pressure off of his armies and it was clear that the time had come for the Allies to invade France and begin the liberation of Western Europe.

The Germans knew an invasion of France was coming; it was just a question of when and where. Much of England had been transformed into a huge military base, with men and supplies accumulated for the invasion. Hitler and his generals anticipated that the invasion would come near the French town of Calais; as that was at the narrowest point of the Channel and also had nearby facilities (deep water harbor) which, once captured, could be used for the unloading of more men and material. The Allies, however, planned to land on the beaches of Normandy, south of Calais.

The invasion was planned for early June 1944. Conditions for the first week of the month were ideal, given that the tides would allow for landing craft to better access the beach and the moon was in full phase to assist the paratroopers who would parachute at night into France. Unfortunately, on the day the invasion was planned (June 5) the weather was rotten and the invasion postponed. There promised to be a slight window of better weather for approximately 36 hours starting on June 6 and General Eisenhower (the Allied commander and future president) made the fateful decision to “go”. The invasion started in the early morning hours when paratroopers and airborne troops on gliders landed behind the German beach head positions to capture key bridges and towns so as to disrupt the German defenses. The main invasion began at dawn, when the main body of troops landed at five code named beaches; Omaha, Utah, Sword, Gold and Juno. The Americans landed at Utah and Omaha and the British/Canadians/Free French landed at the others. My dad participated as a member of the US Navy on a LST (Landing Ship, Tank) off of Utah beach.

Our trip to Normandy was both thrilling and emotional. Having just lost my dad last September, he was often on my mind as I looked out over the windswept beaches and rough surf where a climatic battle in history raged nearly 66 years ago.

We first visited Point de Hoc, a beach area in between Omaha and Utah beaches. Here, 255 Army Rangers were among the first troops to come ashore. Their mission was to scale a 100 foot cliff in order to capture certain German gun emplacements that could have reined a murderous fire on the troops landing at Utah and Omaha. Using fireman’s ladders and ropes dangling from grappling hooks that had been fired to the top of the cliff by mortars, the Rangers ultimately scaled the cliff even while the German defenders fired down on them. We visited the still in place German gun emplacements and pill boxes. After getting to the top of the cliff, the Rangers discovered that the guns that they were to neutralize had been moved inland. They therefore continued their advance inland and ultimately captured the guns. More than two-thirds of the Rangers were casualties.

Next we visited “bloody Omaha”. Of the five beaches, Omaha was the most stiffly defended. This was, in part, because an experienced German division had been stationed there just weeks before the invasion for rest and training after action on the Russian front. This division offered stiff resistance. If you haven’t seen the first one-half hour of “Saving Private Ryan”, the horrors of war were on full display at Omaha beach. We saw German gun emplacements, the actual guns still surviving after all these years and other German fortifications. Perhaps most amazing to me were the shell craters from the Naval bombardment; nearly 6 feet deep and 10-15 feet across which still litter the landscape. Although now grass covered, the pot marked terrain reminds you of the ferocity of the combat that occurred here.

After a brief lunch, we saw remains of the “Mulberries” offshore. The Allied Army created their own harbors, by towing and sinking two enormous concrete structures (code named Mulberries) several hundred yards off shore. These were then used to unload supplies and men after the beaches were secured.

Any trip to Normandy is incomplete without a visit to the American cemetery, which is located just yards off of Omaha Beach. There is a visitor museum full of displays and memorabilia. There is also a brief movie which largely consists of the reminisces of family of some of the soldiers who were killed. I couldn’t help but think of my uncles (Uncle Warren, killed at sea; Uncle John, wounded in the Pacific; and of course my Dad/ Caroline’s Pepa). These brave men helped save a world and keep the freedom that we all too often take for granted. We then walked the immaculate grounds which feature a large memorial and rows upon rows of pristine white crosses (and an occasional Jewish Star of David). Supposedly, when the Americans were asked by the French what could they give for liberating their country; the Americans responded that they only wanted a place of honor to bury their dead. The American cemetery at Omaha beach is indeed a place of beauty and honor.

On the way back to Paris, we stopped at a major museum in Caen, one of the first cities liberated. This museum commemorates not just the Normandy landings but much of World War II, and has numerous exhibits and artifacts. We started our tour here by viewing a 20 minute movie about the invasion. The film was shown on a large screen and the first several minutes were a split screen format. On the one side, there were movies of the Allies preparing for the invasion; ships being loaded, men training, etc. On the other side, was film of the German defenders readying their defenses. While I was distracted by the German film on the right side of the screen, Caroline and Linda swore that they saw on the American film a skinny, curly haired young Navy signalman using semaphore to communicate to another ship. In the instant that the scene appeared, it disappeared and moved to another image. Was it Pepa? It certainly looked like him and reflected his duties. We are going to see if that video is available. Even if we never find out; I’m assuming it’s him.

All in all, a moving and worthwhile day for the three of us. The weather was chilly and blustery, probably not unlike that day many years ago when so many paid the ultimate sacrifice. Caroline’s blog often starts that her latest visit was “THE BEST YET.” I will remember much about our trip to Paris, but perhaps nothing made me prouder to be an American than to see first hand where so many brave men gave their lives to free a continent.