Judge Memorial students experience D-Day beaches in advance of this year's 70th anniversary

Friday, May. 23, 2014

By Marianne Bartman

Special to the Intermountain Catholic

NORMANDY, France — On June 6, 1944, Allied forces crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France to liberate Western Europe from the occupation of Nazi Germany. 

As the 70th anniversary of D-Day approaches, 36 Judge Memorial Catholic High School students, faculty, staff and parents traveled in the footsteps of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and airmen, as they took the ferry across the English Channel from Portsmouth, England and landed in the coastal city of Caen. 

During their trip in April, the Judge Memorial group spent a full day touring the area, starting with viewing a film about the Battle of Normandy, which they saw in the Arromanches 360 Circular Theater. The film is a tribute to soldiers from all countries and to the 20,000 civilians who were killed during this battle for the liberation of Europe. 

Following the film, the group headed up to the cliffs to view the remnants of the two artificial Mulberry harbors that had been set up by the Allies before heading to the Normandy D-Day beaches. 

They began their visit with an official memorial service at the centerpiece of the Normandy American Cemetery, the sculpture called “The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.” The service included playing of the national anthem, a wreath-laying, playing of “Taps,” and a moment of silence. The wreath presented at the sculpture was done so on behalf of the Judge Memorial Catholic High School students, faculty, staff and alumni. 

Following the official service, the group walked to the reflecting pond and gathered in a circle around an American flag at the entrance to the graves to conduct their own prayer service, coordinated by two of the Peer Ministers on the trip, seniors Fiona Boomer and Niki Gist. 

“It was an indescribable opportunity for us to be in the cemetery at the memorial and to offer our prayers and remembrances on this historic site,” Boomer said. “We are incredibly blessed because of the sacrifices of those who served on those beaches and it was our honor to offer the prayer service for them.” 

During the ceremony, Judge Principal Rick Bartman read excerpts from the Message to the Troops sent by Dwight D. Eisenhower, then the Supreme Allied Commander, on the evening before the D-Day Invasion. Gist followed those remarks with a reading from the Psalm of David, and members of the Senior Class then offered prayers for the Church, veterans, members of the military and for those who had died. Following the recitation of The Lord’s Prayer, Marianne Bartman, director of communications at Judge, recited the World War I poem, “In Flander’s Field.” The closing song was “God Bless America” sung with great feeling and more than a few tears. 

The group then had a few hours to walk among the graves, including visiting the graves of Medal of Honor recipients and the two graves of the Niland brothers, on whom the feature film Saving Private Ryan is loosely based. Some of the students made their way down to Omaha Beach. All walked past bomb craters and trenches to Pointe du Hoc, a towering cliff overlooking the Channel with Utah Beach to the west and Omaha Beach to the east. This area was fortified by the Germans with concrete, gun pits, and bomb shelters. The United States Army Rangers Assault Group was given the task of taking control of Pointe du Hoc, but first had to scale the cliffs. This mission was remembered in a speech given by President Ronald Reagan on June 6, 1984, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy.

“This was a humbling and overwhelming experience,” said Tim Soran, Judge Memorial Latin teacher and group leader on the trip. “What those soldiers, many of them so young, were able to accomplish is incredible. Seeing these steep, rugged, jagged cliffs and knowing what those soldiers, many of them so very young, were able to accomplish, it is hard to express the emotion you feel.”  

“As we progressed through the students leading us during the Prayer Service, and as I watched the students walking on the beaches and playing in the surf, I couldn’t help having the overwhelming sense that this is who the soldiers were fighting for, what they were fighting for,” said Bartman. “They gave everything for the cause of freedom. I will never forget our visit there. I will never forget the reverence and respect given by our students. I hope to go back someday.”