American Cemetery Omaha Beach

The American Cemetery above Omaha:

The front entrance contains some beautiful statues and monuments.

There is also a registry where you can look up who is interned in the cemetery and what site they are located at. Dad, John, and I went in and Dad found several guys from the 467th AAA that had died on Omaha and he also found Captain Napier’s location who was killed in St. Lo in July 1944 by American bombing.

This a beautiful and serene place and “Star of David” markers are also intermixed with the 1000s of white crosses. We left Dad alone for awhile but we also helped for some time finding the sites of people that he knew or were in the 467th AAA.

Below is Captain Raymond Napier’s marker.

CO of Battery A, 467th AAA who had done such an admirable job of directing his units onto the beach in the morning and keeping many of them from significant harm through his reconnaissance and leadership. For him to lose his life at St. Lo from misdirected friendly bombing must have been incredibly disheartening to the others in his Battery yet they went on to a significant number of additional hard battles and missions for another 10+ months with several more unit commendations.

Placido Quinonez, Ed Durnult who both died on Omaha in the 467th AAA landings were also buried here and we visited their resting sites. I noticed that Dad’s Battery A group was from all over the country Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Louisiana and from many different religions and ethnic groups. They were from all over the country and put together in a small units of 8-16 men. Brothers drawn together from different regions and backgrounds under extraordinary circumstances. Whenever they talked or recollected there was always a “deep” bond and solemn respect for each other.

Arromanches and the Museum