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table
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Trip to Omaha Beach
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by Steve Beamsderfer, '68
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In August of 1967, Explorer Scout Troop #165 of Spangdahlem decided to take
a camping trip to Omaha Beach. The participants were: John and Steve (me) Beamsderfer,
Pete Chilcott, Mike Flanagan, Danny McGowan, Mike McWhirter and our scouting advisor
Don whose last name I have forgotten. We caught a train in Trier late in the afternoon
at midweek for the first leg of the trip to Paris. It was crowded and there were no
cabins so we had to spend the time on the floor between cars.
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Leaving Trier
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Sleeping between cars
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Pete's French dictionary
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We got to Paris late
and had to change trains. The station closed for several hours in the early morning
hours so we spent the time wandering the streets of Paris, visiting a closed Eifel Tower,
before the station re-opened and we were able to board the train to Bayeux. We had a
minor incident in Caen when the train conductor told us we would have to get off the
train during a stop there. He told us the stop would be about 30 min. but in reality
it was only about 5. None of us realized what was going on until the train started to
pull out. Mike Flanagan was the only one able to respond quickly enough to get back
on the last car of the train. The rest of us had to wait about 2 hours for the next
train but caught up with Mike in Bayeux. From Bayeux we made our way to Port En-Bessin
which was still about two to three miles west of our destination.
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Caen
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Caen
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Caen
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We decided to split
into three groups. John and Don took a taxi, Pete and I said we would hike across the
pasture land on the tops of the cliffs and Mike, Mike and Danny hiked on the beach at
the base of the cliffs. Pete and I met up with John and Don at the west end of Omaha beach
at deep dusk. It was soon pitch black and we were too tired to try to set up a tent so
we just unrolled our sleeping bags fell asleep on the beach. There was no sign of Mike,
Mike and Danny.
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Camp and locals
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Pete at camp
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The Unknown Nose
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We linked up with the three of them the next morning. Later that morning
we found a hut that we decided to commandeer as a base of operations. It turned out that
a local French citizen used it as a concession stand but after some negotiation he agreed
to allow us to use it for a few days.
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Gun emplacement
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German 88
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Inside pillbox
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Beach view
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Battlefield diagram
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Low tide
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Breakwater
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Shipwreck
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Damaged wall
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Damaged wall
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The rest of our time there was spent exploring,
sometimes as a large group and sometimes in smaller groups. All of the pictures I have
provided were taken with an old Argus 35mm camera that I had never used before and I was
completely unfamiliar with. The pictures were taken either on the way to Omaha or while
we were there. I ran out of film so there are no pictures of the return trip.
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American Cemetery
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Map at Memorial Gardens
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Site Marker
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Monument
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Monument
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Looking west
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The return trip was essentially the reverse of the trip out. The most notable exceptions
(not counting the excessively heavy smoking and the barnyard animals) were the determination
to get and keep a cabin on the train so we wouldn’t have to sit on the floor and a French
train conductor who tried to shake us down for money before we crossed the border from France into Germany.
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