Remembering D-Day

Pointe du Hoc is a 100-foot-high spit of land that juts into the ocean just west of Omaha Beach. It was an especially difficult point of attack for the U.S. Army Ranger Assault Group during Operation Overlord in World War II. Germany's Atlantic Wall defense at Pointe du Hoc included a battery of 155mm guns to protect the coastline. The U.S. 2nd Ranger Battalion was assigned to scale the cliff and destroy the strongpoint early on D-Day.

The Germans, however, moved the guns about a mile inland prior to the attack. The concrete bunkers were left intact and were considered by the Allies to be a major threat to the landings.

Few sites on the beaches and shores of the Normandy coast have been left as they were following the D-Day invasion. In 2004, our study group visited Pointe du Hoc. What we saw was sobering.

There are, however, other reminders visible today of the cost of Operation Overlord, as you'll see in this video.