Skip to main content

Artifacts

As I near the end of my Normandy Institute experience, it seems appropriate to share with my readers some of the more fascinating artifacts I've had the chance to see over here.

A Jeep. This one is mocked up as a British Jeep, which reminds me of how our supplies often went to our Allies. According to readings, the Jeep also amazed the French civilians (as did the staggering amount of stuff our soldiers brought, handed out, and left behind). The Jeep might be the best symbol of our industrial prowess. 

The actual Pegasus Bridge. This is a bridge seized by British glider troops. It was moved a short distance from the canal. This might have been the first part of France liberated in the early of D-Day. 

A C-47 with its victory stripes. I've seen C-47's (workhorses for the U.S. Air Force) before, but I've never had the chance to get up above. I got that chance at the Airborne Museum. 

Artifacts from occupied France: money and ration coupons. At today's cemetery tour we heard a woman tell us of how her older relatives recounted the days of occupation. It's hard for me to imagine how dark those days were. 

I absolutely love the term "red ball" which I believe was the era's slang for responsibly hurrying. 

Great photograph at Utah Beach museum. It's of a U.S. soldier taking in a Germany P.O.W. The caption indicates the probability that the flag was given to him by an American officer who wanted to better stage the photograph. 

A Higgins Boat. Maybe this was a more appropriate symbol of our industrial might. The thousands of landing craft that made D-Day possible weren't even invented yet on December 1, 1942. 
 
A Sherman tank behind an obstacle of the sort standing on the beaches on June 6. 
Of course there were many other artifacts of interest on this trip. But these seemed the most meaningful, made more so because of the readings and lectures we had. This was a trip of sites, however, more than stuff, and I look forward to telling you about those sites next.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Some Thoughts on Liberation

One of the markers placed by the French and Belgian governments to mark the path of the liberators.  My greatest takeaway from this most recent trip involves some refined feelings about liberation. I'm writing this post in a time of high cynicism. And the were matters of which one could be cynical back in 1944, the year in which Charlie fought and died. This trip, however, left me with renewed appreciation for what our country did back in that war, helping me refocus on what I've had the chance to see and do the past few years. Christopher is the military historian who accompanied us on this voyage. In one of our webinars this spring, he made an offhand reference to a piece of scholarship about the Holocaust he said was worth reading. It's entitled Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin. It's heavy. I can't say I read every chapter. But I read most of it on our bus rides this summer. And I'm glad I did. My unassigned reading. Saying that Bloo...
1 comment
Read more

About that observant fella . . .

Alan and I atop a Sherman. I often compliment my daughter on being observant (and she is!). In some ways, I'm trying to call her attention to something I wish I were better at. That is, being observant. Alan has the gift Caroline does. Two interesting examples of it. While trying to find dinner one night in Paris, Alan caught a sign written in French that said something-something about the times of Christ. Turns out, it was a pathway to an ancient Roman arena where gladiator matches might have once taken place. I know. It looks like a park or courtyard. It really is a relic of the Roman era, though, right in a neighborhood in Paris. On our final night of the trip came another moment. Alan came across a pair of stumbling stones, which we weren't aware existed in Belgium. Stumbling stones are a form of remembrance for victims of the Holocaust. They are placed in locations where individuals have memory of those victims last being seen. These were relatively ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Eulogizing Charlie

By Charlie's graveside in Luxembourg.  You may find the eulogy I wrote for Charlie interesting. I have it copied here. The marker by which we stand today identifies Staff Sergeant Charles F. Simcox, Jr., as a hero who gave his life in service to our nation. Before entering the service, his family knew him as Charlie. To this day they keep the memory of Charlie, or Uncle Charlie, alive. Many of the members of this closely-knit group still live near West Chester, Pennsylvania, where Simcox grew up. They have not grown apart in the decades of peace and prosperity that Simcox’s service and sacrifice made possible.    Something that I wanted to convey, but that seemed very difficult to convey, was the joyous and warm sense of his family. When I reached out to them this winter, they were more than happy to meet with me. I felt like something of a guest of honor. And so many of them came out to meet me that I lost track of who was who. A warmly receptive fami...
Post a Comment
Read more