During our fellowship at The American Library in Paris, we took a day trip to Normandy. Doug’s great uncle was a top turret gunner in a B-17 in the 100th bomb group. On August 8, 1944, his B-17 was shot down near a small town called Perigny, and all aboard perished. While we went to Normandy to see the memorial that townspeople built to honor the crew, we also visited the Normandy American Cemetery, where 9,387 Americans are buried. The cemetery draws a million visitors a year, including students from area French schools, where a year of study is devoted to World War II, including the Holocaust, remembrance, and principles of human rights.
As we approach Veterans Day in the United States and Remembrance Day (formerly Armistice Day) in countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, we share photographs of this cemetery as a powerful reminder and commemoration.
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