Topic: I held back the tears, but it wasn't easy.

[gitablok]

I am almost without words.

As we approached Normandy, every history special I have seen about D-Day began to flash through my mind. The slow rolling hills, the picket fences, and the occasional farm house and small church. I have never felt this way before. I was approaching a point in the past that changed World and American history where great sacrifice had taken place. OMAHA BEACH.

I was thinking today's weather was similar to what the Allied Forces had seen on that day. A very blustery 30 or so degrees, cloudy day where the wind cut like a knife. I hopped out of the car thinking, "Man it's cold as hell out here". However, after looking out into the water, then the beach, and some of the monuments, the moment takes you over. Now the cold has no bearing on me, I don't care how cold it is anymore.

The feeling that overcomes you while standing on this beach cannot be described, yet it is very, very, powerful.

I had an exchange with a Canadian that I met while looking at a bunker in the side of the mountain that I will remember forever. He walks up and says that it's a little cold out here. I respond by saying yeah but considering where we are and knowing why and what went on here, not really. He looks me in the eye and says you're right, " It shouldn't matter should it?" I say no, it really shouldn't.

We then head to the cemetery. Powerful, Powerful, place. It says over 10,000 soldiers are buried here. Seeing all those graves lined up strikes right to the heart.

Glad I got see something like this in person before I left this world. As an American these sights are truly moving to say the least. Seeing where part of a battle for World freedom was fought and seeing where the men that fought that battle are laid to rest.......PRICELESS.

THANKS FOOSBALL.


http://picasaweb.google.com/ezemoat/ParisTeasers?authkey=mvx4oOH8xdM#[/i]

[Syronis]

Sounds like an unforgettable experience. I visited a concentration camp when I was in Germany years ago, and at first you kinda walk around and soak it all in. Then the emotion strikes, I remember seeing a solitary person standing in a field of ruins (where all the shack houses used to be) looking at a monument. Then everything just flooded into me. Sometimes things seem so unreal when you see them on TV, and it never hits you until you're there in person. Going through the gates, standing in the 'torture' rooms. Seeing photos of all that took place there, and then realizing the amount of blood that spilled on the soil where you stand.

Experiences such as that are rare gitablok, and it's a memory that I hope you'll remember forever.  I think it's truly awesome that Foosball of all things allowed you to see such a spectacular place.  Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[thebodygroove]

ICEMAN,

it's moving to read how much those impressions affected you emotionally. I can understand your eyes filled with tears at the sight of the place where Europe's freedom was born out of American blood.

But let's not forget that Omaha beach also reminds us of what a terrible mess war always is. There's nothing romantic about being torn to pieces by a grenade because politicians have made one wrong decision after the other. All those brave men wouldn't have had to die if Hitler hadn't been such a monster, and the leaders around him such cynical whimps.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to spoil that moving moment for you!

But my dad was fighting on the other side that day (I should add that he never regarded Americans as his enemies, though), and I have learned from him that there is nothing to be romanticized about war.

I hope you're not mad at me because I say this. I can perfectly understand how you must have felt standing on that beach!


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[gitablok]

I'm not mad at you bg, however for some reason, it seems that you have misunderstood my post.

I have been told that I write well, whether it be about a place I have been or about how to shoot a pull shot. I disagree but I have been told different. I'm just very descriptive if you will.
That's why I classified "As an American". I can't say I know how you feel from your perspective "As a German" because I am not. I can understand your point of view, but I cannot "know" how you "feel".

Melancholy, pensive maybe. By no means was the post about romantic feelings about war or loss of life, there is no such thing. Am I respectful and honored that other individuals gave their life so that I may lead the life I do now, YES. Romantic about it, no way. If you got a romantic feeling of the way I was describing the way that I felt, I'm sorry but you are way off base.

I stated in the post how over 10,000 allied troops died on that day. That makes you romantic?
I stated how bad the weather was and that I thought how the troops that day landed in similar conditions and thinking to myself of the obstacles they faced cost massive loss of life and injury so the cold became of no consequence to me. That makes you romantic? Seeing row after row after row of graves of people that died for a real cause. That makes you romantic? Wow, bg. I guess I missed my calling. When I get home, I'm gonna start writing romance novels, lol. That's why at the end I classified at the end of the post, "As an American"

Ask any American to read my post and ask them if it makes them romantic, or if it makes them feel SAD, PROUD, HONORED. Not Romantic.

And by no mean what you or anybody else does will not ruin what I experienced yesterday.

And besides, I'm on your side of the pond now, get your butt over to the World Cup and we'll talk about it over a beer or two or three.....

[thebodygroove]

Hi Iceman!

If you got a romantic feeling of the way I was describing the way that I felt, I'm sorry but you are way off base.

Seems to be my fault, really. Maybe you write too well, so that I was kind of carried away by your description, which made me mix up my own romantic feelings with what you intended to convey...

I stated in the post how over 10,000 allied troops died on that day. That makes you romantic?
I stated how bad the weather was and that I thought how the troops that day landed in similar conditions and thinking to myself of the obstacles they faced cost massive loss of life and injury so the cold became of no consequence to me. That makes you romantic? Seeing row after row after row of graves of people that died for a real cause. That makes you romantic?

Not me, but I was afraid someone else's feelings might be led that way...

Wow, bg. I guess I missed my calling. When I get home, I'm gonna start writing romance novels, lol.

Maybe it's just some language-barrier thing, and I shouldn't have reacted to it.

That's why at the end I classified at the end of the post, "As an American"

Ask any American to read my post and ask them if it makes them romantic, or if it makes them feel SAD, PROUD, HONORED. Not Romantic.

For me, sadness would be the most important out of those three. It's hard to judge myself on this, but in the end it might be because my ancestors were on the losers' side. From today's point of view, all Europeans are on the winners's side, of course. Fantasizing about what would have happened if America had not stopped that bastard gives me the biggest creeps...

And by no mean what you or anybody else does will not ruin what I experienced yesterday.

I hope so!

And besides, I'm on your side of the pond now, get your butt over to the World Cup and we'll talk about it over a beer or two or three.....

You know I'd really, really love to, but I won't make it to France the next days. But one day this opportunity will come, I promise. Let's just keep track on how many beers we're missing, and when we finally meet we'll have something to catch up to...

Please go on taking your beautiful photographs and have lots of fun at the World Cup! I hope the event will provide you with additional chances for moving experiences - in a different context, of course.

May the American team kick some serious ass (on those 1-man-goalie tables)!

Cheerz

Pat

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