re: D-Day (My trip to Normandy)

One of the eye-opening things for me when I toured the beach was how few Germans there were at Omaha. As much reading as I've done (I'm a history nut) I just had the impression there were thousands upon thousands of Germans manning the defenses. Walking around some of the bunkers (WNs) at the Colleville end of the beach there was a placard saying at that end of the beach there were only something like 250-300 troops.
Later today I'll try to post some more pics from some of the other sites we hit. Ste Mere Eglise, Longues-sur-Mer, and a few others.

When I initially proposed going to France to my friend, I pitched it as a WWII history trip. He did all the planning and arranging. He included a day of WWI sites near Paris, including Belleau Wood - where the modern day US Marine Corps became the Marine Corps of legend that we all know. For two former Marine officers, this may have been the highlight of my trip. Maybe I'll post those in their own thread one day.