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The somber Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial stands atop a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach at Colleville-sur-Mer in France. It is where the various temporary military cemeteries of the area were consolidated after the war, and holds the remains of 9,388 American service members, with the names of a further 1,557 missing soldiers inscribed on the Walls of the Missing.
However, while the Normandy American Cemetery proper was established there, one might argue that it began its existence at a slightly different location, a short way to the west, directly on Omaha Beach in Easy Red Sector between Vierville-sur-Mer and Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer. One day after D-Day, on June 7, the first temporary American military cemetery in Europe was established there by the 607th Quartermaster Graves Registration Unit, marking graves with simple stakes and the occupants' dog tags. 457 American, a few English and German soldiers were buried here. Today, a memorial marks the location of the temporary cemetery.
Join us on our tours visiting Normandy to see both sites and pay tribute to those who paid the ultimate price for their country.
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