Normandy

Background

I had the great honor to provide weather support for the Air Force’s role in the D-Day 60th Anniversary Airdrops in Normandy. I stayed for the most part
at Cherbourg’s airport at Maupertus (east of Cherbourg at the NW tip of France). The invasion beaches were to our east and southeast. Here’s some pictures from this important occasion.

Cherbourg Operations

Tents where everyone on the airfield worked and slept.

 

The tent I worked in – that’s my laptop in the
corner.
I got to give a new satellite receiver (the little gray box on the left) its first operational test. It allowed me to patch into the internet with nothing else. Although I could use an ethernet line that ran into the tent, it caused radio interference and I had to use my much shorter USB cable to get data.This is me on the day of the airdrops, preparing the briefing. Shortly after this picture, I was showing the General in charge of the airdrop satellite images on my laptop.
A C-17 coming in for a landing a couple of days prior to our mission. Our airfield was “sleepy hollow” until that morning, when heavy fog delayed the arrival of several aircraft.When it lifted, they were low on fuel and had to land right away. It
was pretty chaotic and noisy with planes landing right after each other.

 

Saint Mere Eglise

The street sign for the village that welcomed us so warmly. There were huge festivities and kids were walking around everywhere
asking for autographs and souvenirs from the Americans.
The church steeple where a paratrooper had hung up in the tragic misdrop that brought them right into the hands of the Germans instead of the countryside to the east.The depiction in “The Longest Day” was fairly accurate – the trooper was shot a few times while he struggled to free himself before he decided to play dead and eventually was cut down and survived.
A bullet ricocheted off this railing of a fence when Germans were firing at the falling paratroopers. The man who lived in the house at the time (in the background) came and pointed it out to us.
There is a tradition every year in St Mere Eglise to host any military members or veterans for dinner a couple of nights before D-Day. I was honored to participate, and ate with a family just down the road from the church.The father (on the left) and his wife (in red) were 14 and 12 on that day and lived in the country. The remembered the night well, and he had saved a parachute that had fallen. It was in perfect shape, and we took a picture with it here.
There was also a large hall near the town’s war museum that was a meeting place for all the veterans. We enjoyed going there to hear there stories, and they loved telling them. Here’s a couple
of friends with a couple from Oklahoma. They’re looking at pictures of him 60 and about 50 years ago when he was a sergeant.

 

D-Day Airdrops (5 June, Iron Mike Drop Zone)

An aircrew member checks the wing of his C-17 for any problems.
Paratroopers helping each other suit up.
More paratroopers with a Ramstein C-130 tail in the background.This jump was made “Hollywood” with no extra gear. Usually they wear jumpsuits with tons of pockets for gear and have a huge rucksack on a tether to drop once their chute opens.
Moi standing in front of the lead plane – a C-130 from Dobbins AFB. The general in charge of the op was on board.
All 4 C-17’s lined up on the ramp.
A marshaller standing by to give the planes a go. Imagine the sound of 48 propellers and 16 jet engines!
Time to roll!
Nine of the twelve C-130’s ready to take off in 15-second intervals.

 

Taking off – there’s 3 planes in the image.
Here’s a crew of re-enactors that were about to drop out of a C-47 right before the modern day jump. I talked to a few of the guys, and some of them were Army on leave to participate.
A close-up of this “Band of Brothers.”

 

The Beaches

Omaha was the first beach I saw, and this is looking up from the edge toward a bunker. Bloody Omaha (the beach in “Saving
Private Ryan”) must have been terribly difficult because of the steep terrain the troops had to navigate while under heavy fire from perfectly intact bunkers.
Later that same night, I saw Ponte du Hoc. The Rangers had to scale the steep cliffs to take out the important guns that were equidistant between Utah and Omaha beaches. It suffered a
heavy aerial bombardment before the assult, and the ground still shows the upheaval with numerous craters and collapsed bunkers.
I stayed at Utah beach a couple of nights, so have a couple more pictures of it. Here’s a shot at its normal state.
Here’s Utah at low tide like the day it was attacked. The criteria for the assult was a relatively full moon for the airdrops, but low tide near sunrise so the numerous obstacles and mines along the beach would be exposed. Unfortunately, that made for
a very long run for the soldiers under fire.
The rusty remnants of the beach obstacles.
Me standing next to a memorial – mile 0. There were markers every mile from this point showing the distance to Paris.

 

The American Cemetery, Omaha Beach

An Army color guard holds the American flag after a retreat ceremony at the Omaha Beach cemetery.
The symmetry and precision involved in laying the marble gravestones was incredible.
There was apparently no order to the way people were buried. One has to look up the names of loved ones at the visitors center, and they give the plot location.
This is one of many, many unknown soldier stones. It reads: “Here rests in honored glory a comrade in arms known but to God.”There was an enormous courtyard with the names of missing soldiers and airmen. Many of them were probably buried here, but were never identified.
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Paris

After getting surprise notification of a 4-day weekend, we were quick to make reservations to visit Paris, France. You could never see everything in 3 days in Paris, but we sure tried. We came back tired, but with a love for the “City of Lights” and the people within it.

Day 1: The Good Weather Day

We started the day with our train departing around 8:00am. We rode in a 6-seat compartment with a U.S. civil servant taking one last trip before he headed back to the States, and a Russian composer and her husband on their way to hear one of her pieces played for the first time. As soon as we were settled, we took advantage of the fairly good weather to view the higher landmarks of Paris.

 

At the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It got fairly cold and windy right as we got there, so we decided Riley wouldn't enjoy standing in line for an hour to go to the top. Maybe next trip!

We went next to the Montparnasse Tower, a 59-story skyscraper that had a great observation deck. We sat at the restaurant and talked with a charming clerk while waiting for sunset. This is a view at dusk of the Eiffel tower and the golden dome of the Les Invalides where Napoleon was buried. It was unbelievable how packed the city was!

 

A similar view after sunset. The Eiffel had a circulating beacon on top. This picture sure does the scene no justice...it was so beautiful!

 

 Day 2: The Marathon Sightseeing Day

As our only entire day in the city, we did our best to see all the major landmarks.  After about 10 subway rides and blocks of walking, we came away with some great pictures and memories.

We visited the Arc de Triomphe first thing Saturday morning.  We were glad we weren’t driving…this 5-road intersection was busy and full of impatient drivers honking their horns!  We got to go on top of the Arc, and had another great view of the city complete with Tour Eiffel disappearing into the mist.

The Arc de Triomphe

 

Dale standing in front of the street sign for the Champs Élysées. Just to his left was a crew filming a street scene in an Audi. You can see the smoke from the tires as the car came to a quick halt. Just before we left they were setting up a track to film alongside the moving car. Wish I knew what movie they were filming!

 

Sandi and Riley in front of Notre-Dame. The interior was a bit too dark for pictures, but it was beautiful.

As we’ve often found in the more touristy places we’ve visited, there are places that are not nearly so publicized as the major attractions but are often much more rewarding!  Sainte Chapelle cathedral was one of these treasures.  It was a contemporary of Notre-Dame, but completely different.  The lower section, made for the castle workers, was painted with intricate designs and gold trim.

The lower portion of Sainte Chapelle cathedral.

 

The upstairs section was for the monarch, and tall stained glass windows cast a pink glow across the room.

 

I was captivated by the detailed designs that covered even the floor.

It was really cold, so we had to take a break from the action to let Riley warm up and get a nap.  It was late by the time we got back out, so we didn’t quite make it in time to see the inside of Les Invalides and the Rodin museum.  I did get in the garden for a quick picture of Rodin’s “The Thinker” with the dome in the background.

Rodin's "The Thinker"

Day 3: The Rainy Museum Day

Fortunately, the resident meteorologist of the family knew rain was on tap for Sunday, so we planned our trip accordingly and saved the Louvre for the last day.

Our Louvre visit had a really funny start.  Shortly after we entered, and used the restroom and changing room, several attendants just “knew” that Dale was Dr. Green from ER (Anthony Edwards).  Despite Dale’s repeated attempts to persuade them otherwise, they insisted on autographs.  So somewhere, a happy fan has “Dr. Green” autograph that resembles Dale’s chicken scratch of a signature!

Anyhow, I could never capture the beauty of the Louvre and its wonderful exhibits, but here’s a few shots.  You can tell I was especially enamored by the Greek and Egyptian artifacts.

The glass pyramid that serves as a skylight to the main entryway below. Each wing of the palace serves as a different section for the exhibits.

 

One of the many Greek statues we got to see.

 

Dale and Riley standing among many delicately-painted mummy caskets.

 

Dale (just right of center) standing by feet larger than his among several Egyptian sculptures and columns. Ramses II is on the far left.

 

Posing in front of a Sphynx.

Riley was incredibly well-behaved.  There was one hall though where he discovered the acoustic effects and he kept us laughing (and slightly embarrassed) as he made a high-pitched “Aah!” repeatedly just to hear the echo.

After we were maxed out at the museum and got something to eat, we decided to squeeze in one last stop at Place de la Concorde before we had to catch our train. The sun had just come out, and I got this great picture of one of the Cheveaux ailes, or “Winged Horses,” that guard the entrance from the Champs Élysées to des Tuileries, a beautiful garden.

Cheveaux ailes

In the Tuileries, there was a pond circled by marble sculptures and lots of birds! I found a use for all the extra Cheerios I had stashed for the trip. Riley had a lot of fun tossing cheerios and watching the birds flock to eat them. Dale and I also had fun watching the gulls catch them in mid-air and also discovered that the pigeons would land on our hands to eat out of them! It was a great finish to a wonderful trip!

Riley feeding pigeons Cheerios at the Tuileries

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