Ma Normandie Galleries - World War II Memorials

World War II Memorials - The people of Normandy remember and honour well the sacrifices made by allied soldiers on their behalf. See Map

Normandy American Cemetery - 12 photos

Normandy American Cemetery - as seen in Saving Private Ryan - this, the largest American Cemetery in France, contains 9,387 graves, and walls inscribed with 1,557 names of the missing.

Omaha Beach - 20 photos

Omaha Beach - where the tide ran red with blood - My father landed here on June 7th, 1944, the day after D-Day.

Pointe-du-Hoc - 8 photos

Pointe-du-Hoc - cliffs overlooking the western end of Omaha Beach, scaled by the U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion under heavy fire

Brittany American Cemetery - 14 photos

Brittany American Cemetery - Saint-James, Normandy - Smaller than the well-known Normandy American Cemetery, Brittany Cemetery boasts elegant landscaping, featuring grave markers laid out in graceful gently curving lines. After the war, my father served here as Honor Guard. See Map

Unsung Hero- 16 photos

SFC Raymond J. Provencher - March 21, 1925 - July 30, 2008

My father fought in WWII, having landed on Omaha Beach and fought his way through Normandy, to Belgium, where he was captured. He spent the last eight months of the war as a POW in a stalag on the Polish border.

After the war he was stationed again in Normandy, at Brittany American Cemetery, where he served as Honor Guard.

He rarely spoke of his war experiences, but little by little, through my mother and other acquaintances, we learned what a hero he was. Our most recent such revelation came at Brittany Cemetery on Memorial Day, 2004.