Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial



Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

Introduction

The cemetery is one of the most mesmerizing, cultural and artistic landscapes. The culture is our base, impelled through the understanding of death to generate something which moves beyond the finitude. The funerary monuments as well as the tomb sites have a good appreciate cultural existence in our lives. It represents the historical, sociological and anthropological background of the country or nation. There is a number of historical cemeteries present in the worldwide. The government of United States has established the agency named American Battle Monuments Commission, maintains and works for 24 American cemeteries and 25 monuments and memorials in 15 different countries of world (Gallagher and associates, 2007).

Discussion

There are 14 American cemeteries situated in different areas worldwide other than the soil of America. The Normandy American cemetery is one of them. It is located in the land of France. The government of France approved the use of this piece of land. France does not charge duty or tax for the ground and has allowed the place to be used as grave yard permanently.

Site of Cemetery

The Normandy American cemetery is situated on a sea cliff disregarding and ignoring the beach of Omaha as well as the English Channel. It is found in North West of Bayeux in Colleville-sur-Mer and east of St-Laurent-sur-Mer. The train takes two, and a half hour to travel from the St. Lazare railway station in Paris to Bayeux. This train service is at least four times a day to carry the visitors from the Paris to Bayeux. Then by taxi, one can reach the cemetery from the Bayeux station. The automobile service is also available for that the directional marks are here on the way to reach the door of cemetery. The distance of road between the cemetery and Caen is 29 miles, Cherbourg is 50 miles, Havre is 94 miles and Rouen is 110 miles. For visitors, the facilities of hotels are also available in the villages of surrounding areas, Bayeux and Caen (NACM, 2008). The timings to visit the cemetery is from 9 am to 5 pm daily. Furthermore, it is remained open on the public and gazette holidays of the France. The cemetery is closed on December 25 and January 1 each year. The staff member is present in the building of visitors to guide them and to answer their queries. They also lead the visitors to their relative`s burial space and the memorial locations in Normandy American cemetery.

Historical Background

The Normandy American cemetery covers the area of 172.5 acres (WWD, 2009). The registration service, of the American graves, established the first transitory American world war II cemetery in France on June 7, 1944. Following the end of the battle, army established all the temporary graveyards again. The dead remains of the American military, in World War II, are buried in the 14 areas of foreign countries permanently. The Normandy American cemetery is one of those 14 graveyards. The commission is accountable for the design, ...