Freedom Is Not Free

I dream of giving birth to a child who will ask, "Mother, what was war?" ~Eve Merriam

Early this morning we drove from Rouen to Paris to pick up Shari and Patrick from the Orly airport. It was wonderful to see them, and they were surprisingly chipper and alert after a long flight from Denver, Colorado. On our way back to Cherbourg we stopped by the American cemetery at Omaha beach. It was on this beach that American casualties were the highest on D-Day. It is the largest American WWII cemetery.

9,387 fathers and brothers (thirty-three pairs buried side by side) and four women are buried here. It is a very sober but peaceful place, where the gravity of war hits home. This bronze statue is the center of the Memorial: "The Sprit of American Youth Rising From The Waves."




On June 6th, the 63rd anniversary of D-Day, Daniel received some moving e-mails from people that work at his site. They expressed their appreciation for what American (and other) servicemen did that day, and showed that they have not forgotten the devastating but important sacrifices of WWII.

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
~John McCrae