Only two words will do for our vets: Thank you

Raymond and Simone Ramager wanted me to extend their gratitude to America for the liberation of their beloved country on June 6, 1944.

During the liberation, Raymond was 10 years old, a cold and half-starved child living on the streets of Paris when an American soldier gave him his utility jacket and a chocolate candy bar. It was Raymond’s first taste of chocolate and he never forgot the savoring of that experience.

I met Raymond and Simone many years later when I stayed at their home in Le Luart, France, on my way to Normandy. That evening, Raymond showed me the utility jacket the soldier had given him, saying it was one of his most revered possessions. During the liberation, Simone lived in another part of the country but was also very grateful to the Americans.

The next morning, after breakfast with Raymond and Simone, I continued on my journey to the Normandy coast. I arrived late in the afternoon, found accommodations, unloaded, and walked Omaha Beach.

Omaha Beach is about 5 miles long, and depending upon the tide, approximately 300 yards from the ocean to the seawall. If you’ve seen the movie “Saving Private Ryan”, you have an idea of some of the horrors that took place there.

It’s hard to imagine now because the sea there is calm, the sun is low and children are laughing and playing in the background, but for the first two hours of early morning on June 6 1944, many American soldiers lost their lives there.

The D-day operation was divided into five sectors on the Normandy Coast. They were Gold, Sword, Juno, Utah and Omaha beaches. Omaha was the most deadly of these five sectors mainly because of the 300 yards of exposed beach covered by elevated enemy machine gun nests and mortar placement.

Machine nests and mortar placements all zeroed in on the Higgens landing craft which transported the soldiers to the beach head. The Higgens boat is a plywood sided craft with a tall steel door on the bow. As the boat driver approached the shore, the order is given to drop the gate. Unfortunately, upon doing so, it became a que for the Nazis to open fire on the now exposed 30 soldiers inside the craft.

As a result, Able Company (the first to land) suffered a 96% casualty rate. Omaha Beach was finally secured by a few soldiers who got to the cover of the seawall and took out the Nazi defenses.

Fittingly, there is a memorial on the bluff above Omaha Beach for those who perished. It is called Colle-sur-Mer cemetery. It contains the remains of 9,388 fallen American soldiers.

Each grave side is marked by a cross or a Star of David. Most of the markers engrave the soldier’s full name, rank, and date of death. Occasionally, you will see a marker with “Unknown” on it. If you visit on or near the 6th of June, you will notice a fresh rose on some of these “Unknowns” placed there by a grateful French citizen.

They allow you to walk through any part on the cemetery to honor the fallen. The markers are perfectly aligned and the grounds are perfectly groomed. There is no noise from any motorized lawn equipment, no signs that say “quiet please.” Somehow, there are no sounds. Just the birds singing peacefully.

As you walk from cross to cross, you will imagine that many of the fallen sacrificed their entire adult life, perishing between 17 and 20 years old. Many left behind sweethearts, wives and children. Their sacrifice is beyond comprehension.

I experienced many thoughts, feelings and emotions as I read some of the names on the crosses. Grief for the fallen, gratitude for their faithfulness to duty, and renewed determination to be all I could be as an American. However, in that sea of crosses, all seems inadequate for the gift they gave us. So I am left with the same two words spoken by Raymond and Simone: “Thank you.”

DAN HEINTZ

Sandpoint