Since Svetlana starting work as a DD guide she had that great honor to accompany over 20 American WW2 veterans. Many families of the DD veterans had contacted Svetlana knowing her professional tactics in helping hem discovering the sobering facts about their families.
Utah+ Saint Mére Eglise
The Legend: Utah as the westernmost of the D-Day beaches, was added to the invasion plans at the eleventh hour so that the Allies would be within striking distance of the port city of Cherbourg.
In the predawn darkness of June 6, thousands of U.S. paratroopers dropped inland behind enemy lines. Weighed down by their heavy equipment, many drowned in the flooded marshlands at the rear of the beach, and others were shot out of the sky by enemy fire.
One even hung from a church steeple in Saint Mere Eglise for two hours before being captured. Those who landed, meanwhile, often found themselves outside of their designated drop zones. Forced to improvise, they nonetheless succeeded in seizing the four causeways that served as the beach’s only exit points.
On Utah itself, U.S. forces landed more than a mile away from their intended destination, due in part to strong currents. “We’ll start the war from here!” U.S. Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the son of former President Theodore Roosevelt, shouted upon realizing the mistake...
http://www.history.com
SITES TO DISCOVER:
Sainte Mere Eglise - the crucial junction of the North-South and East-West crossroads behind Utah Beach. The possibility of visiting the "Airborne Museum"
Sainte Come du Mont- deadly 88s placed all over this village targeted not only the American tanks but the paras as well blocking the access to Carentan for the breakthrough.
Sainte Marie du Mont - the first village inland from Utah that had witnessed the bloody fightings at the night of the drop
La Fiere- the incredible story of 2 american soldiers holding the contre attack of 6 German Tanks for almost 3 days.
Utah beach sector ( bunkers, beach, the museum)
La Pointe Du Hoc
The Legend: Pointe du Hoc is located on the coast 3 miles to the west of the Omaha beach. It is the coastal artillery battery built by the Germans in 1942 for the position of six 155mm cannons with a range of 11 miles. The area had been bombed since May 1944 and then grew in intensity during the three days and nights before D-Day.
On June 6, those impregnable cliffs were defended by the 716th Infantry Division, 200 German troops (125 infantry and 85 artillery men).
The task fell to Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder's 2nd Ranger Battalion and called for 3 Companies (D, E, and F) of the battalion to scale the heights, find and destroy the guns... What happened? Were the guns found? Let's discover...
http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com
Omaha
The Legend: Surrounded by steep cliffs and heavily defended, Omaha was the bloodiest of the D-Day beaches, with roughly 4,600 U.S. troops turning up dead, wounded or missing.
Defended by 1.200 German troops, having 16 guns, 16 mortars, 86 machine guns, this landing area would create serious troubles for the Americans...
"There are two kinds of people who are staying on this beach: those who are dead and those who are going to die. Now let’s get the hell out of here." ColonelGeorge A. Taylor, June 6, Omaha
http://www.history.com
SITES TO SEE: Over 5 miles of the most stunning beach in Normandy you can have an unforgettable experience of walking from WN 74 to the most well defended spot at Omaha.
We'll show you where General Norman Cota took the commandent on Omaha WN 60-61.
"You'll see the scenes from the movie "The Longest Day". You will hear the real story of "Saving Private Ryan"
Company G assault- Captain Joseph Dawson
It was Company G with 226 enlisted men and nine officers led by Capt. Joseph T. Dawson from Texas- the first break through the German lines. They made the way up to the cliffs where now the American cemetery is planted. Facing that heavily-fortified 150-foot bluff along the beach Company G fought its way into the seaside village of Colleville-sur-Mer. It happened to be the first town in France to be liberated by the landing troops. Historian Stephen E. Ambrose, author of the just-published "D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II," calls it one of the great moments of the war.
American Cemetery
The most powerful, the most humbling site, the Normandy American Cemetery has 9,387 burials of US service men and women overlooking Omaha beach...
Visiting the American Cemetery, do not skip the "American museum" at the visitor's center retracing the preparation of the DD assault. It is a very special learning and humbling experience hearing and watching the documentaries from the soldiers' families.