memorial day

After touring some Normandy battle sites, we attended the lowering of the flag, the Retreat Ceremony, at the end of the day. After seeing all those battle sites, learning the magnitude of lives lost, the cloudy sky, the breeze blowing, Taps floating through the air, and not a single sound coming from any of those attending, brought a reverence and solemnity to this sacred spot and tears to my eyes which flowed freely down my cheeks.
 

The grounds of military cemeteries honor those who have served our nation and provide a sense of beauty and peace for those who visit.

The above photos came from at trip in 2019 to The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in located in Colleville-sur-Mer, France. The U.S.First Army established this on June 8, 1944 as the first American cemetery on European soil in World War II. The cemetery site contains the graves of 9,388 of our military dead, most of whom lost their lives in the D-Day landings and ensuing operations. On the Walls of the Missing, in a semicircular garden on the east side of the memorial, are inscribed 1,557 names. Rosettes mark the names of those since recovered and identified.