Iowa Martins in Albania

Friday, July 13, 2012

St. James Cemetery

The day after other family members attended a ceremony at the St. James cemetery, the boys and I traveled to St. James.   We stopped in the chapel to begin with.

Maxim noticed the beautiful stained glass window in the design of the seal of the United States that he had read about.

Also in that room were diagrams and maps of the D-Day invasion.
If you click on the map above, you will get a clear vision of the distance from the Normandy beaches to Bruz.  Other people will know with 100% certainty, but it is my understanding that planes like Cecil's "box car" were dropping bombs in an effort to soften the defenses of Germany in preparation for the full-scale land invasion that came soon after June 6.


When you click on the above photo, it will enlarge and you will be able to read the words.

While walking to around the cemetery, the boys and I were excited to find the home states of all the soldiers.  We found men from every state except Vermont and Hawaii.  Oskar asked if there would be anyone from Alaska.  I tried to make it a thinking/history problem out of this, asking him why there would NOT be anyone from Alaska.  My thinking was that since Alaska was not a state yet, there couldn’t be anyone from Alaska there.  Just as I finished posing the question to my youngest son, Oskar, found a soldier from Alaska.

The boys were especially impressed by the crosses on Medals of Honor-winner graves.

We easily found Cecil’s grave.  It was the one that had some flowers. 

         I didn’t want to put flowers down because I didn’t like the idea of the wastefulness.  Flowers simply dry up and are thrown away.  Instead, the boys and I wrote messages to Cecil.
 I wrote, 
“Dear Cecil, I am here with my two sons, Oskar and Maxim.  We aren’t bringing flowers because I am concerned about using too many resources.  My boys are writing messages to you, as am I.
Two days ago, we visited the area where the Allies built a floating harbor, at Arromanches.  The ingenuity and resourcefulness shown by those men, I’m sure, is similar to your own.
We are here to show respect for you and appreciation for your sacrifice. I’m sure that I don’t know the magnitude of our deft to you and your fellow soldiers.  Thank you, James Martin.”



Maxim wrote, “Dear Cecil, for me, the history of D-Day is exciting to learn about.  The most exciting to learn was about the floating harbor.  Thank you for defeating the Germans.  If you had not, they might have taken over the world.”
Oskar wrote, “Thank you for going into war.  Or else Hitler would have taken over the world.”  He also drew a picture of the cemetery and of the trucks using the harbor.
Oskar asked, “How will he read them?”
“Well,” I said, “that’s a great question.”




Thursday, July 12, 2012

Normandy, France

“Are those rocks from the dock?” asked Oskar as he looked out onto the beach near Arromanches.  What he saw were several huge pieces of concrete—remnants of the temporary harbor that the Allies built in 1944 to support their invasion of German-controlled France.
The beach from above.






Sections of the harbor were constructed in London and then sunk in the Thames River so they would not be visible from the sky; thereby preventing the Germans from getting a clue about what the Allies were planning.  The pieces were then floated across the channel and put together.  At the beginning of construction, several old ships were brought to the area and sunk; they would provide some calm sea in which to work. The museum contains excellent models on display that explain and demonstrate how the harbor moved up and down with the tides.  The following video was taken by Maxim:



Trucks with supplies, troops, and equipment were able to drive off the ships to the mainland 24 hours per day.  After we saw a film in the museum about the construction and use of the harbor, I asked how this could happen if the Germans were fighting them.  The museum guide said that the Germans were busy on the eastern front with the Russians, so they did not fly many planes in the area.  She also said that only 50 people in the whole army knew what they were doing.  Even the soldiers working to build the harbor didn’t know exactly what they were building.  I couldn’t imagine how people landing on beaches like the ones portrayed in the movies could have built such a thing.  It seems obvious now that the harbor must have been built AFTER the D-Day invasion, but I didn’t get it until Jerry Hurd sensibly pointed it out.

Oskar is looking at the barnacles in honor of a teacher at school, Miss Barnacle.
A section of the floating dock.

We were there on D-Day, June 6.  We saw many people dressed in US Army uniforms.  They also had several US jeeps on hand.  The jeeps carried an axe strapped to the side.  “What’s that for?” asked Maxim.  In case they have to abandon the jeep, the soldiers would use the axe to damage the engine so the Germans would not be able to use it.  This let visitors get some idea of the vehicles and clothing from the day.  A bag-pipe band led marched onto the area in front of the museum.  They were led by marching WWII soldiers.






Seeing our flag, someone yelled, "I love the USA!"


On the way back to our cottage on the east side of the peninsula, we drove through delightful small towns—including one that had a collection of WWII equipment.  We drove up to the gate of the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach.  We were surprised and disappointed to find the gates locked; then I looked at my watch and found it was 8:30.  Judging by the position of the sun, I thought it might be 5 in the afternoon.

Was Dr. Who in WWII?



Propeller blades bent by heat from fire
Oskar in front of tank

A refurbished troop carrier


On the beach, we saw these piles of droppings.  I thought they were excrement, but when I touched them, they seemed to be sand.  Does anyone know what they are?