Our final stop takes us to the Normandy American Cemetery where 9,388 service members, most of them whom were killed during the Normandy invasion, lay to rest. Latin crosses made of white marble mark the graves of 9,238 protestants and catholics, while the other 151 are stars of David to mark the Jewish deaths. 304 unknown soldiers are buried amongst them all.

I didn't really know what to expect when I first saw Omaha Beach in person. As I made my way to the shoreline. My only real visual knowledge of the landings were thanks to the movie Saving Private Ryan, and we all know how movies like to exaggerate moments in history. The first thought to come to mind as my eyes gazed over the shores of Omaha Beach were, "OH MY GOD, these poor men were sitting ducks!"

Pointe du Hoc is a 110 foot cliff overlooking the English Channel, a highpoint between the landing zones of Utah and Omaha Beach. While most of us know about the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach thanks to the movie Saving Private Ryan, this would be the first time I had heard the story about the brave Army Rangers who had to scale these walls to overtake the German forces.

On the westernmost parts of the Normandy coastline lies Utah Beach. The allies landed there on June 6th 1944 at 0630 hour. Their objective was to secure a beachhead on the Cotentin Peninsula, the location of important port facilities at Cherbourg 36 miles away. Cherbourg would allow the allies long term succession if they were able to overtake the German occupied area.

Our journey begins in Sainte-Mère-Eglise, where on the night of Monday June 5th, 1944, 30 paratroopers would make their landing as Operation Overlord would commence.