New moon tonight. 0% of full. My Current Moon gadget always shows now, so if you read this tomorrow, this will have passed.
Leonard G. "Bud" Lomell
January 22, 1920 - March 1, 2011
Tom Brokaw included a chapter on Bud Lomell in his book, "The Greatest Generation." Tom reported on Bud's passing tonight on Brian Williams' Nightly News on NBC. Bud was a decorated veteran of World War II and one of the heroes of the 2nd Ranger Division's mission on D-Day to scale the cliffs at Pointe du Hoc, seeking to take out five 155-millimeter German cannons. Things did not go exactly to plan, but by pure chance, the mission was accomplished.
My ears perked up when I heard "Pointe du Hoc." I visited it last May as part of an side-tour I took of the Normandy D-Day invasion, "An American Highlights Tour" by Battlebus, while on Jeanne Mills' quilters tour.
Pointe du Hoc had been turned into a "moonscape of craters" by aerial and naval bombardment of the area, and this site is incredible. Our van-load of tourists wandered among the craters as our guide showed us maps and aerial photos and described the history of the campaign here. I could only think that similar topography in the US would be crisscrossed with cement pathways and guard rails.
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Part of our group heading out to Pointe du Hoc
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The rest of our group
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| Crater |
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| Sean shows us an aerial photo of the cratering. |
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| Viewing platform |
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The view east
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| Pointe du Hoc as seen from the viewing platform |
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| Truly messed up gun emplacement |
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Look at the scale of this crater.
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Bunker
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| Some kids play in the crater. |
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Some prefer to watch.
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See you tomorrow.
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Very interesting photos - - thanks for posting them.
ReplyDeleteI will show this to my husband. I think he will find it interesting, as do I. Thanks for sharing your photos, Lee!
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