Wordless Wednesday: Heros

Les Plages du Debarquement de Normandie

Normandy American Cemetery

Humbling. Simply humbling. That is the only way I can describe a visit to the landing beaches on the coast of Normandy, France.  I've watched Band of Brothersand Saving Private Ryan numerous times yet neither film fully prepared me for the experience of walking over these battlefields. June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, was a day that went down in history and during the long summer of 1944 this stretch of coastline was the scene of some of the most strategically planned yet bloody fighting our country has ever known. Today, seventy years after the fact, these same beaches, villages and fields are both eerily quiet yet filled  by tourists taking the same trek we did. Bunkers and craters mark the battlefields where bombs were once dropped, monuments paying tribute to the soldiers, sailors and airmen who made the ultimate sacrifice sit adjacent to corn fields and grazing cattle  and tastefully organized museums recount all aspects of the battles. American, British and Canadian flags fly alongside French ones in every village and signs and banners thanking the rest of the world for their freedom are as common as stop signs. The entire area pays tribute to their past and reminds us all of the horrors that can ensure should we forget where we have come from.

One could spend weeks if not months visiting and exploring the battlefields, monuments and museums of Normandy. In fact, there are so many historically significant sites in the area that our GPS looked like a field of black dots connected by a few roads. Because this was our first visit and since it was impossible to take it all in over the course of a long weekend, we chose to spend time at a few of the more famous ones along the Normandy coast. I know we missed so many worthy sites (we must go back) but those that we did see moved me in a way that few other places ever have. Nice, enjoyable and fun are not the appropriate words to describe our weekend; moving, humbling and thoughtful are.

Perhaps the best known (to Americans at least) sites are Omaha and Utah Beaches. Today they are flat sandy expanses that mask the horrors that took place seventy years ago. Here the tides ebb and flow quickly, exposing and covering the sands and reminders of the past. We saw a few brave souls swimming in the surf and many more curious waders dipping their toes into the sacred waters. (True to form, we limited ourselves to throwing a few rocks into the water from a craggy perch). There are many places you could start your visit but the Cinema Circulaire in Arromanches provides a moving and comprehensive overview of the landings and battles that took place on the shores below. Set on a hill overlooking the village of Arromanches-les-Baines, and using archival footage displayed on nine high definition screens, the cinema introduces visitors to the story of the landings by Americans at Omaha and Utah Beaches, as well as the Canadian and British landings at Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches and the entire 100 day Battle of Normandy. Both the Musee Memorial Omaha Beach and the Utah Beach Museum house relics, photographs and memorabilia that bring this period alive. Films take you back to 1944 and watching them makes you feel as though you are on the battlefields. Most of all, these museums take the war from a page in history that most of us only learned about in school and personalize it through powerful narratives that bring the battles to life.

But not all of the battle is shown from an Allied perspective. The Batterie allemande de Longues sur Mer has you walking along the remnants of the Atlantic Wall, Germany's defense barrier that protected their troops from attacking armies. Perched atop the cliffs overlooking Omaha and Gold Beaches the bunkers of Longues sur Mer provided German's with a bird's eye view of what was happening on the beachfronts below. Today concrete bunkers in various states of decline, some with their artillery still intact, dot the hills. Visitors are free to climb into and on top of the bunkers and see the same view that the Germans did seventy years ago. We visited on a crystal clear day and the serene views only made the reality of what had occurred here all the more numbing.

A German artillery bunker

And the German perspective of the beach landings

Normandy American Cemetery sitting above Omaha Beach

And last but not least, was our visit to the Normandy American Cemetery. I've visited several military cemeteries in the past, including the hallowed Arlington, but Normandy is in a class by itself. The visitors center provides visitors with a personal introduction to several of the soldiers buried on the cemetery grounds. It is these personal stories, who they were, how they lived, the families the left behind, and how they died that makes the tragedy that much more real. Then there was the cemetery. Set above the very beach where so many of those buried here lost their lives, these 172.5 acres are the final resting places for 9,387 American heros. Included in this number are 45 sets of brothers and four civilians. Marble Latin crosses and Stars of David are laid out in symmetric rows, without regard to date of death, home state or rank, for as far as the eye can see. And despite the throngs of visitors and the Congressional delegation on a fact finding mission (members of the Appropriations Committee) the cemetery had a tranquil feel. A silence hung over the area and we could wander amongst the headstones undisturbed by others. In fact, for much of our walk the only sounds were those of birds chirping and the sea crashing below us. It felt like a fitting final resting place for those whose final moments had been filled with such terror and trauma.

Then....

...... and now

Tribute at Omaha Beach

The Navy Memorial at Utah Beach

Like I said, our entire visit was a humbling experience. Today it is so easy for people to complain about what they don't have in life or how difficult they perceive things to be for them. But I challenge them to take a moment to reflect on what they do have and question if their circumstances are really that bad. For just a moment, they should put themselves in the place of the French families who lived under the Nazi occupation. Or perhaps put themselves in the shoes of the young soldiers who stormed one of the beaches or dropped from the air on D-Day. Then think about their own lives. I know I did and I walked away feeling grateful for those who fought these battles. Its humbling; simply humbling.

If you go:

Arromanches Cinema Circulaire 
Arromanches, France
(33) 02 31 06 06 45
www.arromanches360.com
Open daily
5 Euro for adults, 4 Euro for children and seniors

Musee Memorial Omaha Beach 
14710 Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
Normandy, France
(33) 02 31 21 97 44
www.musee-memorial-omaha.com
Open daily
9 Euro for adults, reduced admission for children, seniors and active duty military members

Musee du Debarquement Utah Beach

50480 Sainte du Mont, France

(33) 02 33 71 53 35

www.utah-beach.com

Open daily

8 Euro adults, reduced admission for children and seniors

Batterie allemande de Longues sur Mer

Port en Bessin, Bayeax, France

(33) 02 31 21 46 87

www.bayeax-bessin-tourisme.com

Open daily

Free admission; charge for guided tours

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

14710 Colleville-sur-Mer, France

(33) 02 31 51 62 00

www.abmc.gov

Open daily

Free admission

Still Knitting For A Cause (An Updated Repeat)

I don't consider myself to be a crafty person; my one attempt at scrap booking resulted in a sticky mess that would have embarrassed a pre-schooler.  After years of trying and failing, I've come to terms with the fact that my one crafty outlet is knitting (and yes, this was before the resurgence of knitting as a hipster cool hobby).  I grew up watching my mom knit but first lesson came in first grade when my Brownie troop was making acrylic potholders.  This was in the late 1970s so acrylic, and garishly colored acrylic at that, was all the rage. I'm not sure who thought acrylic was an appropriate fiber to place on a hot object but my little troop toiled away in the school cafeteria learning this ancient craft.  I gradually moved onto scarves which after all, are potholders on steroids.  I continued to knit off and on over the years and with time the sophistication of my projects, both in style and materials, increased.  During college I spent two summers working in a now defunct yarn shop where I became even more proficient in complex designs.  I also spent a ridiculously large portion of my salary on yarn since I learned early on that half of the fun of knitting is buying and collecting yarn for my "stash.   While living in D.C. I discovered the oh so cool Fiber Space yarn shop in Old Town Alexandria where I spent money we didn't have on yarn for future projects.  A few years ago I learned about Ralvery, an on-line database that allows me to keep track of my projects, yarns, and supplies with the click of a mouse.  For a database junkie like myself, this discovery seemed too good to be true.

Two years ago, with my closets crammed full of sweaters I came to the realization that by knitting socks, I could complete projects quickly and that as a project, a pair of socks was a lot more portable than a full sized adult sweater. I personally don't wear socks but my friends and family did so away I went with my knitting until even they were running from my hand knit creations.  In a attempt to find an appreciative audience for my socks, I stumbled across Socks for Soldiers.  This not-for-profit organization that is run out of a single woman's home in Ohio sends hand made regulation socks (and other essential items) to American soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan- or any other location where American troops are deployed.  At last I had found an outlet for my hobby, and vast yarn stash, while supporting a cause (the soldiers, not the war) that is personal.

Like so many organizations these days, Socks for Soldiers is run completely online.  I've never met any of the other knitters and my only contact with them is through occasional updates on their online forum.  By posted comments and email signature lines, I suspect that I am a good two to three decades younger than most of the other knitters, I am one of the few people whose military connections are though an officer rather than enlisted personnel (this is abundantly clear through written comments and asides) and my politics and (lack of) religious views would cause their yarn to jump into knots.  Regardless of these factors, we are all happily supporting a cause that we believe in.  Just like the military, the rules for knitting socks are strict; colors, patterns, and sizes must be uniform and the regulation olive drab knee high socks are tedious to knit.  We are allowed to knit leisure socks which can be brightly colored and fun and this is where I focus most of my energy.  Its fun, it empties my stash (which allows me to replenish) and it supports  those in need.

I knit occasionally while in Albania; the heat and my schedule just wasn't conducive to fondling wool for extensive periods of time. But not that I am in Belgium, things have changed and so has my production rate of socks. The weather is usually cool and with my family's schedules I find myself spending a lot of time hurrying up then waiting. Sometimes I'm waiting for a few minutes but other times I'm sitting for a lot longer. And knitting, especially small portable projects, is the perfect way for me to pass the time. I've lost track of the number of sock projects I've completed over the past few months but it certainly is a lot. I do know that I'm making regular excursions to the post office to ship my completed projects back to the States where they are then repackaged and mailed back overseas. 

So as a war that isn't a war but continues to place our troops in harms way appears to be gearing up once again, I will continue to do my little part to support our troops. I have no idea who the recipients of my socks are but I am sure they are appreciative of the thought and energy that went into making them. (I did meet a solider at the post office at the base in Kosovo once, who upon noticing my customs forms with the Socks for Soldiers mailing address, commented that he had once been the recipient of socks while he was deployed and that he still wore them). And I thought that was pretty darn cool.



Plages du Debarquement de Normandie

Normandy American Cemetery

Humbling. Simply humbling. That is the only way I can describe a visit to the landing beaches on the coast of Normandy, France.  I've watched Band of Brothers and Saving Private Ryan numerous times yet neither film fully prepared me for the experience of walking over these battlefields. June 6, 1944, also known as D-Day, was a day that went down in history and during the long summer of 1944 this stretch of coastline was the scene of some of the most strategically planned yet bloody fighting our country has ever known. Today, seventy years after the fact, these same beaches, villages and fields are both eerily quiet yet filled  by tourists taking the same trek we did. Bunkers and craters mark the battlefields where bombs were once dropped, monuments paying tribute to the soldiers, sailors and airmen who made the ultimate sacrifice sit adjacent to corn fields and grazing cattle  and tastefully organized museums recount all aspects of the battles. American, British and Canadian flags fly alongside French ones in every village and signs and banners thanking the rest of the world for their freedom are as common as stop signs. The entire area pays tribute to their past and reminds us all of the horrors that can ensure should we forget where we have come from.

One could spend weeks if not months visiting and exploring the battlefields, monuments and museums of Normandy. In fact, there are so many historically significant sites in the area that our GPS looked like a field of black dots connected by a few roads. Because this was our first visit and since it was impossible to take it all in over the course of a long weekend, we chose to spend time at a few of the more famous ones along the Normandy coast. I know we missed so many worthy sites (we must go back) but those that we did see moved me in a way that few other places ever have. Nice, enjoyable and fun are not the appropriate words to describe our weekend; moving, humbling and thoughtful are.

Perhaps the best known (to Americans at least) sites are Omaha and Utah Beaches. Today they are flat sandy expanses that mask the horrors that took place seventy years ago. Here the tides ebb and flow quickly, exposing and covering the sands and reminders of the past. We saw a few brave souls swimming in the surf and many more curious waders dipping their toes into the sacred waters. (True to form, we limited ourselves to throwing a few rocks into the water from a craggy perch). There are many places you could start your visit but the Cinema Circulaire in Arromanches provides a moving and comprehensive overview of the landings and battles that took place on the shores below. Set on a hill overlooking the village of Arromanches-les-Baines, and using archival footage displayed on nine high definition screens, the cinema introduces visitors to the story of the landings by Americans at Omaha and Utah Beaches, as well as the Canadian and British landings at Gold, Juno and Sword Beaches and the entire 100 day Battle of Normandy. Both the Musee Memorial Omaha Beach and the Utah Beach Museum house relics, photographs and memorabilia that bring this period alive. Films take you back to 1944 and watching them makes you feel as though you are on the battlefields. Most of all, these museums take the war from a page in history that most of us only learned about in school and personalize it through powerful narratives that bring the battles to life.

But not all of the battle is shown from an Allied perspective. The Batterie allemande de Longues sur Mer has you walking along the remnants of the Atlantic Wall, Germany's defense barrier that protected their troops from attacking armies. Perched atop the cliffs overlooking Omaha and Gold Beaches the bunkers of Longues sur Mer provided German's with a bird's eye view of what was happening on the beachfronts below. Today concrete bunkers in various states of decline, some with their artillery still intact, dot the hills. Visitors are free to climb into and on top of the bunkers and see the same view that the Germans did seventy years ago. We visited on a crystal clear day and the serene views only made the reality of what had occurred here all the more numbing.

A German artillery bunker

And the German perspective of the beach landings

Normandy American Cemetery sitting above Omaha Beach

And last but not least, was our visit to the Normandy American Cemetery. I've visited several military cemeteries in the past, including the hallowed Arlington, but Normandy is in a class by itself. The visitors center provides visitors with a personal introduction to several of the soldiers buried on the cemetery grounds. It is these personal stories, who they were, how they lived, the families the left behind, and how they died that makes the tragedy that much more real. Then there was the cemetery. Set above the very beach where so many of those buried here lost their lives, these 172.5 acres are the final resting places for 9,387 American heros. Included in this number are 45 sets of brothers and four civilians. Marble Latin crosses and Stars of David are laid out in symmetric rows, without regard to date of death, home state or rank, for as far as the eye can see. And despite the throngs of visitors and the Congressional delegation on a fact finding mission (members of the Appropriations Committee) the cemetery had a tranquil feel. A silence hung over the area and we could wander amongst the headstones undisturbed by others. In fact, for much of our walk the only sounds were those of birds chirping and the sea crashing below us. It felt like a fitting final resting place for those whose final moments had been filled with such terror and trauma.

Then....

...... and now

Tribute at Omaha Beach

The Navy Memorial at Utah Beach

Like I said, our entire visit was a humbling experience. Today it is so easy for people to complain about what they don't have in life or how difficult they perceive things to be for them. But I challenge them to take a moment to reflect on what they do have and question if their circumstances are really that bad. For just a moment, they should put themselves in the place of the French families who lived under the Nazi occupation. Or perhaps put themselves in the shoes of the young soldiers who stormed one of the beaches or dropped from the air on D-Day. Then think about their own lives. I know I did and I walked away feeling grateful for those who fought these battles. Its humbling; simply humbling.

If you go:

Arromanches Cinema Circulaire 
Arromanches, France
(33) 02 31 06 06 45
www.arromanches360.com
Open daily
5 Euro for adults, 4 Euro for children and seniors

Musee Memorial Omaha Beach 
14710 Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
Normandy, France
(33) 02 31 21 97 44
www.musee-memorial-omaha.com
Open daily
9 Euro for adults, reduced admission for children, seniors and active duty military members

Musee du Debarquement Utah Beach

50480 Sainte du Mont, France

(33) 02 33 71 53 35

www.utah-beach.com

Open daily

8 Euro adults, reduced admission for children and seniors

Batterie allemande de Longues sur Mer

Port en Bessin, Bayeax, France

(33) 02 31 21 46 87

www.bayeax-bessin-tourisme.com

Open daily

Free admission; charge for guided tours

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

14710 Colleville-sur-Mer, France

(33) 02 31 51 62 00

www.abmc.gov

Open daily

Free admission

These Times, They Are A Changing

The other night while channel surfing I saw something that I never dreamed I would see. There, right on the American Forces Network, a.k.a. AFN, the military's satellite answer to watching American television, I saw a promotion for their recognition of June as LGBT pride month. Now AFN regularly recognizes special interest groups during "their" months; women's history, black history, African-American, military children and Pacific Islanders. I know I'm missing some groups but you get the idea. But I do believe this is the first AFN has openly recognized the LGBT community. For me, it is a long awaited and very welcome first that shows that even the most stalwart of institutions can slowly change their ways.

It was just less than three years ago that the Department of Defense's Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT)17- year - old policy prohibiting military personnel from discriminating against closeted gay and lesbian military members was overturned. The act prohibited commanders and coworkers from asking military members about their sexual orientation. In turn it also prohibited bisexual or homosexual military members from disclosing their sexual orientation or speaking about their same sex relationships while serving in the United States military. Those that did speak openly about their sexual orientation were to be discharged from service. Needless to say, during its existence, the policy was controversial for many reasons. To me, it felt like a sad compromise between the gay community and people who are uncomfortable with those who are different from themselves. This same policy that allowed LGBT service members to continue serve their country as long as they didn't discuss their personal lives, forced them to essentially live as second class citizens who were not afforded the same rights and privileges as their heterosexual counterparts. But the end of DADT theoretically lifted this black cloud.

But fortunately the days of DADT are behind us and the military is trying to adjust. Within our small circle of active duty military friends the end of DADT has been mostly welcomed with relief and open arms. From what I've seen and heard others haven't been so open and welcoming. Some members of the LGBT community are coming out while others are choosing to remain closeted. At least the option is now theirs to make and their decisions will no longer negatively impact their careers. For its part, the Department of Defense has now mandated that educational and sensitivity workshops on LGBT issues are a part of ongoing training. And, institutions like AFN are talking about it through their recognition of the LGBT community is a part of the larger military community.

A vast variety of programming is planned for the month. I rarely watch television so it is unlikely that I will catch any of their special programming but the very fact that this network, whose news favors FOX over NPR, is recognizing this segment of our society, is exciting. This recognition has been a long time in coming. I don't believe for a minute that discrimination and bias towards the LGBT community will suddenly disappear but this is an important first step. As long as the baby steps keep coming, the movement will be in the right direction.

Knitting for a Cause

Regulation colored caps

I don't consider myself to be a crafty person; my one attempt at scrap booking resulted in a sticky mess that would have embarrassed a pre-schooler.  After years of trying and failing, I've come to terms with the fact that my one crafty outlet is knitting (and yes, this was before the resurgence of knitting as a hipster cool hobby).  I grew up watching my mom knit but first lesson came in first grade when my Brownie troop was making acrylic potholders.  This was in the late 1970s so acrylic, and garishly colored acrylic at that, was all the rage. I'm not sure who thought acrylic was an appropriate fiber to place on a hot object but my little troop toiled away in the school cafeteria learning this ancient craft.  I gradually moved onto scarves which after all, are potholders on steroids.  I continued to knit off and on over the years and with time the sophistication of my projects, both in style and materials, increased.  During college I spent two summers working in a now defunct yarn shop where I became even more proficient in complex designs.  I also spent a ridiculously large portion of my salary on yarn since I learned early on that half of the fun of knitting is buying and collecting yarn for my "stash.   While living in D.C. I discovered the oh so cool Fiber Space yarn shop in Old Town Alexandria where I spent money we didn't have on yarn for future projects.  A few years ago I learned about Ralvery, an on-line database that allows me to keep track of my projects, yarns, and supplies with the click of a mouse.  For a database junkie like myself, this discovery seemed too good to be true.

Two years ago, with my closets crammed full of sweaters I came to the realization that by knitting socks, I could complete projects quickly and that as a project, a pair of socks was a lot more portable than a full sized adult sweater. I personally don't wear socks but my friends and family did so away I went with my knitting until even they were running from my hand knit creations.  In a attempt to find an appreciative audience for my socks, I stumbled across Socks for Soldiers.  This not-for-profit organization that is run out of a single woman's home in Ohio sends hand made regulation socks (and other essential items) to American soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan- or any other location where American troops are deployed.  At last I had found an outlet for my hobby, and vast yarn stash, while supporting a cause (the soldiers, not the war) that is personal.

Colorful socks to brighten up one's day

Like so many organizations these days, Socks for Soldiers is run completely online.  I've never met any of the other knitters and my only contact with them is through occasional updates on their online forum.  By posted comments and email signature lines, I suspect that I am a good two to three decades younger than most of the other knitters, I am one of the few people whose military connections are though an officer rather than enlisted personnel (this is abundantly clear through written comments and asides) and my politics and (lack of) religious views would cause their yarn to jump into knots.  Regardless of these factors, we are all happily supporting a cause that we believe in.  Just like the military, the rules for knitting socks are strict; colors, patterns, and sizes must be uniform and the regulation olive drab knee high socks are tedious to knit.  We are allowed to knit leisure socks which can be brightly colored and fun and this is where I focus most of my energy.  Its fun, it empties my stash (which allows me to replenish) and it supports  those in need.

Since arriving in Albania the pace at which I knit has decreased.  I'm busier than ever and the long hot summers just aren't conducive to sitting around with a pile of wool on your lap.  Without an outgoing mail service sending in my completed projects becomes a project unto itself.  During a recent trip Glenn visited another Embassy that has the ability to ship outgoing packages.  He brought along my most recent pile of completed socks, a year's worth of knitting, and sent them on their way back to the United States. Within a few short months they will be headed back overseas to be worn by some young soldier posted far from home.  These socks may not make a difference in terms of changing the political environment or ending the war, but I hope they remind at least one young man or woman that people back "home" are thinking about them and the sacrifices they are making.  And that is why I do it.