Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer

Can’t give this enough stars. So beautiful and meaningful and powerful. The free tour was fantastic and worth taking to find out some beautiful stories about some of those buried there. We also happened upon a service while we were there, which was nice.

I’ve been wanting to come here for decades. I made it my sole purpose on July Fourth to come and pay respects to the men who sacrificed everything for freedom, some may disagree, but the the idea of leaving the comforts of your home thousands of miles away knowing you may not return to the arms of your loved ones is profoundly heroic, tragic, uplifting and honorable. The respect and honor the keepers tend to this place is commendable, even almost 80 years after the events of D-Day. At 2:30PM, the Star Spangled Banner and Taps were played. Don’t know if it happens on the half hour routinely or if it was a July Fourth thing, regardless it made the visit even more special.