July 28, 2025
Looking back at the memorial with the reflecting pool in front
Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves by Donald De Lue
The pebbles at the base of the statue are all from Omaha Beach. There was a wreath ceremony as we stood there.
Map of the landings on the Normandy beaches
Map of the military operations in Western Europe
Looking over the reflecting pool to the chapel and the graves
The Ceiling in the chapel
The mosaic is by Leon Kroll. Completed in 1953, it comprises 500,000 tiles and tells a full round story “of war and peace.” One side depicts Columbia (Goddess of Liberty) allegorically representing America blessing “her rifle-bearing son before he departs to fight overseas. Above him, a warship and a bomber push through sea and air toward land on the opposite side of the dome. There, a red-capped Marianne figure, personifying France, bestows a laurel wreath upon the same young man. His now lifeless body leans against her as she cradles his head in her lap. Above them, the return of peace is illustrated with an angel, a dove, and a homeward-bound troop ship.”
On June 19, 2018, Julius H. O. Pieper, whose bones were identified with DNA, was laid to rest next to his twin brother, Ludwig J. W. Pieper, and became the 9,388th servicemember buried at the Normandy American Cemetery.
The cemetery contains the graves of 45 pairs of brothers (30 of whom are buried side by side), a father and his son, an uncle and his nephew, two pairs of cousins, three generals, four chaplains, four civilians, four women, 147 African Americans, and 20 Native Americans.
These burials are marked by white Lasa marble headstones, 9,238 of which feature Latin crosses (for Protestants and Catholics), and 151 of which feature the Star of David (for Jews). Since these were the only three religions recognized at the time by the United States Army, no other type of markers are present
The Cemetery is divided into ten plots. It forms a Latin cross, with the chapel at its center.
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The Cemetery looks over Omaha Beach
The cemetery is on French soil, so should anything happen, it will be French police that respond. However, the cemetery has perpetuity and sits here tax-free. It is run by the American Battle Monuments Commission, but the guards and groundskeepers are all French citizens.
The care taken to maintain the stone markers is heartwarming.
At the very front of the cemetery is this time capsule. It contains news reports of the June 6, 1944, Normandy landings. In the center of the slab is a bronze plaque engraved with the following inscription: “In memory of General Dwight D. Eisenhower and the forces under his command. This sealed capsule containing news reports of the June 6, 1944, Normandy landings is placed here by the newsmen who were there, June 6, 1969.”