John Sheldon's photos with the keyword: Normandy American Memorial

At the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Coleville-sur-Mer in Normandy, France. This is close to the coastline that was code-named Omaha Beach during the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944. This was the beach where most of the troops from the USA landed on D-Day. The Memorial area is organized around this 22-foot tall bronze statue, “The Spirit of American Youth Rising From the Waves.” The statue faces west toward the headstones of the 9,380 USA service personnel buried in the cemetery area. Most of these lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations.

At the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial at Coleville-sur-Mer in Normandy, France. This is close to the coastline that was code-named Omaha Beach during the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944. This was the beach where most of the troops from the USA landed on D-Day. The Memorial area is organized around this 22-foot tall bronze statue, “The Spirit of American Youth Rising From the Waves.” The statue faces west toward the headstones of the 9,380 USA service personnel buried in the cemetery area. Most of these lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations.

My picture gives no sense of scale, but this is one of four urns each about 4 feet (1.2 metres) tall. The Memorial is linked with a cemetery in which 9,380 USA service personnel are buried, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings in 1944 or in the ensuing operations. This urn represents words with which troops from both Jewish and Christian backgrounds will have been familiar: “The spirit of the lord moved on the face of the waters.” This seems to be fitting, since the Cemetery contains the graves of Christians and Jews, who fell together serving a common purpose. On the water, a spray of laurel recalls to memory those who lost their lives at sea; a rainbow emanates from each hand of the figure symbolizing hope and peace.

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is at Coleville-sur-Mer in Normandy, France. It overlooks the coastline that was code-named Omaha Beach during the Invasion of Normandy in June 1944. This was the beach where most of the troops from the USA landed on D-Day. The Memorial area is organized around a 22-foot tall bronze statue, “The Spirit of American Youth Rising From the Waves,” which can be glimpsed through the wall in this picture.