normandy

let me try and describe my experience at normandy. it will be difficult to convey the power and feelings through words. also this is super long, but i just have a lot of feelings

the second we got out of the bus, it felt like america. it's really hard to explain what america feels like until you leave it and then feel it again- if that makes any sense at all. as much as i am absolutely in love with france and grateful for this experience and i am having the time of my life, i miss america. since i have been here, my testimony of the sacred and consecrated land of the free that i call my home has grown immensely, and for that i am eternally grateful.

the first thing you see is a museum. you can go outside, and see the most beautiful reflecting pool that looks like it can go on forever until it reaches the ocean. inside the museum, they have a day by day and hour by hour of the battle and the days leading up to it. they also have profiles of heroes and the history behind the battle. what struck me most is that most of the people who fought and died were so young; around my age and younger. they had heard about the war in europe, and prepared for battle. many of them spend time in london before, and they wrote home about how great of a time they were having in london, how ready they were to fight.

"the Americans are the only ones in the streets of town, there are no more Germans. It is an indescribable joy."

the day of the battle, the french resisters started attacking key strongholds within occupied france to weaken the german army. they actually had to put off the battle due to bad weather, and decided on june 6th, the day that will forever be known as d-day. they parachuted and came in on to the beach. they fought a bloody battle that i will not even pretend to know anything about. on thursday, september 18, 2014, i stood on omaha beach as an american in a foreign land that i get to visit as a part of my college education. it is hard to picture the horror of 1944, but my gratitude for my country will forever be imprinted in the feelings and memories of that day. 

i read the many stories of battalions full of at least a hundred men landing on the beach, and by the time they got up to the top of the hill, there were only six remaining. men were shot down, and stood back up to fight and make way for their fellow americans. they were shot and hurt two, three, even four times,but they got back up and kept fighting until they could not go on any more, fighting, even to the death, in order to make is possible for their comrades, brothers, and friends to continue on and fight for what was right.

there is an inscription on the church in the cemetery that says, “these endured all and gave all so that justice and nations might prevail and that mankind might enjoy freedom and inherit peace.”

“nearly all of them left a void in the lives they left behind. They are forever young. They gave their future to ensure ours.”

after the museum we walked out and they have a beautiful walkway down to omaha beach. it was the most beautiful beach i have ever seen. it's endless blue lost in a sapphire sky. the only indication that it could have been something other than a beach is a small mass of metal covered in green moss. with no recognizable shape, the small outline is an anonymous tattoo that would make any passerby wonder what it was, but not think much about it. 

knowing what happened there, it's so hard to understand because it is so beautiful. but also knowing what happened there, i am so grateful that it is so beautiful now. it's proof that everything that has a spirit strives for beauty and progress. the world made this place beautiful again. 

after spending some time on the beach, soaking up the sunlight and the feelings, we walked up to the cemetary. i had picked a little wildflower before, and had it in my backpack. you get to the cemetary, and it is rows and rows of crosses and stars of david. as i walked by the graves, i thought the least i could do was say the names as i passed by them. i reached a grave of an unknown soldier. i put my flower there, wishing i had flowers for all of the graves.

as kayla and i were walking up to the memorial they have in the cemetary, i felt the spirit of god so strongly. it was honestly one of the strongest feelings i have ever felt in my life. here was God. here he was with his selfless children, weeping with those of us who weeped, adding our salty tears to their salty ocean grave, and carrying on the spirit of those young men and women who died to make sure we never lose our freedom. 

my whole body felt it. here was the spirit of america, those soldiers and the holy ghost. the memorial was enscribed with several quotes, but the most powerful to me was, "this embattled shore portal of freedom is forever hallowed by the ideals, the valor, and the sacrifices of our fellow countrymen." 

there is a statue, and around the statue was flowers from the french people for these american soldiers, as well as the words, "mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the lord." never was there anything more fitting. 

i could have spent all day in Normandy. it was an experience that i will never ever forget.