A Pilgrimage to Normandy
Travel is About More Than Relaxation
It has been my experience, that most people do not strive to be ignorant, but also that people tend to think of themselves as being “better” than what their present life situation would indicate. It’s this disparity between our perception of self, and our reality, that can often mirror our personal motivations and development.
The mental framework which people use to view themselves, as well as the world around them, are created and reinforced, through education. Formal education is extremely important to learn about our world, while informal education via life experiences aid us in understanding the realities of how our small corners of it work. Unfortunately, both forms of education are limited by context.
This “context” of which I speak, is in regard to how information is presented to you in the classroom, or the context in which you live your life (ex. some people spend their whole lives living in the same place, doing a single kind of job, meeting the same kind of people), and can both severely limit, and influence the way a person thinks and feels about a subject.
It’s my opinion, that travel is the best way to truly bridge that gap between what you’re taught, and the experiences you’ve had because it can provide much-needed context for both.
The world is a book, and those that do not travel, read only a single page.
- Saint Augustine
To be philosophical for a moment, if there’s anything I’ve learned in my 37 years, it’s that Albert Einstein said it best when he said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.”
Buckle-up, check your opinions at the door, and please observe the following experience for what it was to me.
With Kindest Regards, Management.
Americans Abroad
Having done a fair bit of travel, I’ve come to understand a little bit of how a decent portion of the western world, views Americans:
They think we all sound like we’re from Texas
Florida and Las Vegas, are the two places that we vacation domestically
We’re all rich
We’re all eternal optimists, with an air of entitlement
We’re indifferent to what’s going on in world politics
We all talk way too loudly
And we all fall into one of two main buckets, which also correspond with our politics.
Those that travel, and those that don’t
With extra emphasis on the last two points of that list (I’ve been told that I’m loud in more than one country), I think it’s important to try to understand our culture through the eyes of those that are outside of it. Through that outside perspective, we might learn some things about your culture (and ourselves), that may be in direct opposition to either our belief system within our culture or with our perception of self and culture. A personal example of this mismatch between personal perception and reality is that I don’t think I’m loud, but the people around me think otherwise. In becoming aware of how we are perceived by others, we can make personal adjustments.
The American Military
A Brief History
Left largely undisturbed until World War 1, the United States didn’t even attempt to enter the global stage until after it reluctantly entered World War ll in the 1940s. Within the lens of our Military, we introduced our nation to the world, guns a’blazen.
In 1961, President Dwight Eisenhower (who had been the general that led the allied troops in 1941), in his farewell address from office, gave the nation a warning about our ongoing use of the Military. In that address, he referred to “a threat to our democratic government,” and he coined the term, “the military-industrial complex.”
The “complex” he refers to, are the military contractors which develop and produce the products of warfare, and other military uses.
He went on to say, “We must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist."
He understood the cost and already knew that the United States was choosing to march down a path that was no longer needed in times of peace. He knew that we had created a war monster, and it would need to be fed by continued engagement in conflict. This is evidenced largely in the middle-east, still today.
The human cost of war should be the responsibility of every citizen (not just politicians), both directly and indirectly. The willful disregard of the magnitude of this responsibility is to condemn future generations to suffer the same fate as the brave men and women of history, that fought and died for our freedoms, by simply repeating mistakes of the past.
Setting aside opinions regarding both Patriotism and Nationalism, I believe that the involvement of American troops in WW2 was both necessary and good. However, it is our militarized behavior that has followed that war, which I’m addressing here.
Normandy France, and Omaha Beach
June 1944, allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy France, to liberate the French people from Nazi occupation. While successful, and effectively turning the tide of the war, over 2000 men died on this beach, in a single day.
Allied forces won the war, but for the families that lost brothers, sons, husbands, and fathers, we felt that it was our duty as Americans, to make the effort to visit the ground they gave their lives for. We owe it to them, to the families they left behind, and their legacy, to never forget the sacrifice they made so far from home, for the freedoms we enjoy daily.
Bayeux
Not far from the landing beaches, is a little town with a special history all its own. While not there with the intent of exploring it in great detail, we used it as our home base for the exploration of the war memorial sites located in the surrounding area.
VERY charming, this little town shows a particular fondness toward Americans, which can be seen in the decorations, shops, and to some extent, the products available for purchase. A great example of this fondness ( I wish I had taken a photo of), was our little hotel, which had a china cabinet in the lobby filled with commemorative plates of U.S. Presidents. Both odd, and charming, Bayeux was a great stop on our trip.
The Beach
We departed our hotel early in the morning and made the short drive to Omaha Beach. It was chilly that day and was raining on and off, but it was our only chance to go, so we pressed on and hoped for the best.
Fortunately, the rain ceased by the time we arrived and was replaced with a peaceful stillness as the sun began to rise. The only beachgoers being us, and a man exercising a horse on the sand, the mood was a perfect mix of reflection and prosperity.
It’s hard to imagine this place being anything other than how it is now, but it was an emotional experience to attempt to do so. As we were about to leave, this rainbow appeared, as if to say “thank you” for coming, and remembering those that had fallen here.
Memorial Cemetery
Just a few minutes up the road from the beach, is a cliffside memorial park, dedicated to the men (and women) that lost their lives on D-Day. Overlooking the landing beaches, it is a beautifully sad sight to see, because it adds scope to the human loss that had occurred.
Each headstone bares a name and a hometown, and it’s while reading those names that what I had learned from history books, actually became real. The loss of life may have occurred decades before I was born, but it felt fresh, and the sea of headstones overwhelming.
We had arrived together (my husband, mother-in-law, and I), but we each walked through the grounds and experienced this place separately. Each of us trying to reconcile the event that had brought us here, to what we were experiencing at that moment, each in our way.
I cried (pretty sure we all did), and tears again filled my eyes as I recall that day to write this post.
*Note - Near the entrance to the cemetery, is a memorial, and near the center of the grounds, is a chapel. Both are open for those that wander the grounds, as we did.
Closing Thoughts
It would have been easy to take a trip to France, and not do anything that didn’t “sound fun.” Vacations from everyday life, are opportunities to get away from the mundane stresses of things we don’t always enjoy. However, it’s these same opportunities that provide each of us with a chance to enrich our lives, and thereby grow as people. It would be a tragedy to only focus on what is fun and easy because that’s not where growth and change happen.
I’m not anti-military, or anti-American, but the weight of responsibility for the choices being made by those in power (which should be true for any person, in any country), hangs heavier upon me now, than it did before this experience.
The reason those men fought and died, was to preserve the right, the freedom, to protest against injustice. It wasn’t for a flag at football games, it was to preserve your right to protest when that flag is not living up to the obligations it represents. THAT is what freedom looks like, and that’s what the men on Omaha Beach, died to protect from the Nazis.
In recent years, politics have become increasingly polarized and my views have resulted in my being called a socialist, or “UN-American.” I say that my criticism of the government is in direct response to the call of President Eisenhower and the MOST American thing I could possibly be doing. After all, so long as there are those that wield the power of our military, so must there also be those that seek to ensure that power is not abused, and writing an American story that doesn’t reflect me or culture I’m apart of.
Keep learning, keep reflecting, and strive to make tomorrow better than yesterday, so that eventually people will define Americans not by our indifference to the world around us, but by our benevolence, education, and consideration.
