Taphophilia.(dot) Com - Tacoma native moved by sight of cemetery

Tacoma native moved by sight of cemetery

Monday, 07 June 2004

ADAM LYNN; The News Tribune

It was, Bill McNamara said, "a tremendously impressive thing."

The Tacoma native was one of thousands who traveled Sunday to the normally serene U.S. military cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.

The lush lawns blanketing the final resting place of thousands of soldiers killed on the beaches below were crowded with throngs of well-wishers Sunday, said McNamara, a former Stars and Stripes correspondent who landed on those beaches himself on June 9, 1944.

The crowds were amazing, he said, ranging from world leaders to French elementary school children. It took hours to reach the site, on a bluff overlooking the English Channel in northwestern France. Tour buses loaded with World War II veterans from all over the world and cars crammed with people wishing to honor their service to Europe clogged roads for miles around, McNamara said.

"It was bumper to bumper," he said.

A speech by President Bush, in which he thanked the veterans for their sacrifice, brought many old U.S. soldiers to their feet, McNamara said.

"It was very well received," he said. "In fact, all the World War II veterans gave him a standing ovation. We believed in what he was saying."

But it was what was said before and after the politicians lauded the members of the "greatest generation" that left the biggest impression, McNamara said.

"A lot of the young troops there to provide security were saluting us and saying, 'thank you,''' said McNamara, still keyed up nearly 20 hours after he awoke to begin getting ready for the commemoration ceremony. "You couldn't ask for more."

Then there were the words of the veterans themselves. Most, like McNamara, are in their 80s.

Many made their way to the edge of the bluff at some point to look down at the beaches which 60 years before were bathed in the blood of their comrades. Many had tears streaming down their faces, said McNamara, whose voice quavered as he recounted the sight.

"For many years, they tried to forget what they went through. For many of them, this was their first trip back," he said. "But many of them wanted to come back this year because they're not sure they're going to be around next year."

McNamara said he, too, was moved by the cemetery, where simple white crosses and Stars of David mark the graves of soldiers killed during the Normandy invasion and offensive.

"It made me feel how lucky I was," he said. "I came so close to being killed so many times that I could have been buried there myself."

McNamara is spending 10 days in France to celebrate his own part in the liberation of Europe.

The 1939 graduate of Stadium High School was a 23-year-old Army captain and Stars and Stripes writer and editor when he waded ashore six decades ago.

He and his colleagues produced the "Beachhead Bulletin" on mimeograph machines in the field until Allied troops liberated the French city of Cherbourg and they were able to access professional printing facilities there, McNamara said.

"We printed a continental edition (of Stars and Stripes) on the Fourth of July in Cherbourg," he said.

On Aug. 25, McNamara was with French troops who entered Paris, liberating the city after four years of Nazi occupation. He is thought to be the first U.S. news correspondent in the city after it was retaken.

"I got up early the next morning and stayed with the column as it pushed into the outskirts of Paris," he wrote in a 1944 letter to his hometown newspaper, The News Tribune. "I never expect again to see such a demonstration of sheer joy as the wildly cheering people almost blocked the streets. All wanted to shake hands. It wasn't so bad for a while having the women kiss you, but when the men started it got boring."

McNamara and his driver later came under fire from German snipers when they stopped for a break in a city square.

"My driver and I were out and under the jeep in a jiffy," he wrote. "Unfortunately we were in the middle of the square with machine gun bullets bouncing all around. Luckily for us, the Germans were very poor marksmen."

After Allied tanks rolled in to clear the area, "I rather nervously returned to my jeep and took out one of the bottles of champagne given me earlier in the day," he wrote in the letter.

Last week, McNamara visited Paris, dropping by the former offices of the Herald-Tribune newspaper where he published editions of the Stars and Stripes in the late summer of 1944. "It brought back a lot of memories," he said.

On Saturday, he was on hand at St. Mere Eglise, where U.S. paratroopers re-enacted the jump behind enemy lines made by Allied forces on D-Day.

More than 100 Allied serviceman, including McNamara, received medals from the French government following the paratrooper jump, he said.

Emblazoned with the word "Normandy," the medal depicts three infantryman charging ashore with airplanes and paratroopers above them, McNamara said. "It's quite an impressive medal," he said.

He also visited a nearby World War II museum. It was there he saw French schoolchildren on a field trip.

"I was so happy when I saw them. I'm glad they brought them, so another generation will know what we sacrificed to save France," said McNamara.

http://www.tribnet.com/news/story/5165667p-5098120c.html

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