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Joe Steinbring

Colleville-sur-Mer

Rows of white marble crosses, and a Star of David among them, on a green lawn.
The Normandy American Cemetery, where more than 9,000 American service members are buried.2019 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring
Static offline map showing Colleville-sur-Mer in France with a location pin.

My Mom and I were in Colleville-sur-Mer on October 31, 2019, the same day we saw Pointe du Hoc in Cricqueville-en-Bessin and Omaha Beach at Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer, on our trip through Spain, France, England, and Morocco. The village sits behind the eastern end of Omaha Beach, where the 1st Infantry Division came ashore on D-Day, and the Normandy American Cemetery is on its land, on the bluff above the beach. Colleville keeps that history in view: wartime photographs are posted around the village, and its church, left in ruins in 1944, has been rebuilt. I took the photo of the church from the bus window. It was also the day before All Saints’ Day, when French families put chrysanthemums on their graves, so there were flowers everywhere.

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  • A long pool with lily pads mirroring the memorial’s curved stone colonnade and bronze statue.

    The reflecting pool and memorial, with the statue The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.

    2019 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

  • A black marble altar inscribed with a verse, between American, British and French flags.

    The altar in the cemetery’s chapel.

    2019 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

  • A Romanesque stone church with a tall arcaded bell tower, and a panel showing it in ruins.

    The village church, and a panel showing it in ruins in 1944 under the insignia of the 1st Infantry Division, which came ashore on this end of Omaha Beach.

    2019 · Photograph by Joe Steinbring

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