D-Day: Five Lucky Germans

Backtracking a little, again from my UNC journal (May 23-24, 1981):

From a height in between we viewed Gold and Juno Beaches and the Mulberry Harbor. Here we took team photos. Proceeded to St. Aubin on Sword Beach, where the British 3rd Division landed, to the hotel. A German antitank gun stood trained on our hotel. [Map above from Official History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War, Volume III, 1966]

What a bizarre supper! The food and wine was great, but the conversation one in a million. Andrea Jennings was talking about the Kinks, which reminded me of the album they put out in 1968 about the decline and fall of the British Empire. . .

In the dining area happened to be five Germans, veterans of Normandy captured on June 6, 1944, by Canadian troops. Four of them agreed to talk with the group, but Helmet left. All are in their 60s and 70s, and all were older than the average fighting man even in the 1940s, when they served in the 716th [Static] Infantry Division. They were here for Memorial Day services.

[The 716th Static Infantry Division, commanded by Generalleutnant Wilhelm Richter, was essentially destroyed on D-Day, though it was later reformed. On D-Day, it consisted of Grenadier Regiments 726 and 736, Artillerie Regiment 716, Panzerjäger Kompanie 716, Pionier Bataillon 716, Nachrichten Abteilung 716, and Versorgungstruppen 716.]

They talked about the second-rate quality of their division, how the Eastern Front was given priority over the Atlantic Wall, and so forth. I sat with fascination as they told their side of the story . . . From their point of view, survival came first. Germany in the 1920s and 30s was down in the gutter, spat on by France and England. Harnessing his people’s basic self-pride and basic needs, Hitler created a phoenix-like . . . powerful world state. Only when he became brazenly exploitive did many of the people realize that he might bring their own downfall. . .

The other major topic was their lives as POWs behind the Allied lines. Processed through Scotland, they were scattered across the U.S., serving as laborers in South Carolina, Colorado, New Jersey, and Alabama.

It was compelling to hear from the other side! Dr. Stroup then gave long-winded praise to the Germans and appealed for peace. After the song contest out on the beach a few of us (Rachel, Bink, Chris, Bill and I) talked with our new German friends in the hotel bar. We knew a little German, they knew a lot of broken English, so we managed to communicate semi-articulately about things. Chris, Bill, and I bought them a round of Kronenbourg 1664s, a gesture that seemed to honor and embarrass them. They bought the next round, and, added to the dinner wine, we were all soon nappy. The bartender looked on this with amusement, pretending not to understand anything we said.

Willy Wiederstein and Karl started up old drinking songs, and soon we were all singing: “In Munchen Stadt im Hofbrauhaus, Ein, Zwei, Zufall!!!!!”

Those kindly old gentlemen could drink like fish, but luckily they drifted off for the night, one by one. . .

May 24, 1981, Sunday

Memorial services at Omaha Beach were very beautiful, even if the speeches were drawn out and irrelevant. The most memorable event came when a group of French children ran out, French and U.S. flags in hand, and sang the national anthems. Some of our group were brought to tears by this gesture. The trim white rows of graves were serenely powerful. . .

Today's Rune: Warrior.

You Know What They Say

D-Day: Sainte-Mère-Église and Pointe du Hoc

D-Day anniversary. Had the great privilege of seeing some of the vast battleground in person during a UNC history class in motion, back in 1981. It was by far the best class I've ever taken.

From my journal, a component required for the class (conducted by Jim Leutze):

Pointe du Hoc

After gazing down on Omaha Beach, we motored over to Pointe du Hoc, the site of the U.S. ranger attack. The striking feature of Pointe du Hoc is the steep, high face of the cliffside. It took real courage to assault the position -- indeed, it would take courage just to climb it without being fired at! The Axis defenders didn’t exactly have a pushover, either. They were wide open to aerial and sea bombardment, pulverized by explosives, and assaulted by a crack team of commandos.

Bill and I roamed the defenses; we looked out of a concrete bombshelter just in time to see our five German friends. Willi shouted over to us: “Der Goebbels bunker! You will be shot!”

After lunch among the ruins, we gathered at the main cliffside structure to be addressed by the French mayor of Criqueville in Bessin. He was happy to see young Americans interested in the war . . .

Sainte-Mère-Église

When I stepped out of the van at Sainte-Mère-Église, I thought I was in The Longest Day. The bells! I felt a surge; it was breathtaking. Reluctantly went to the 82nd Airborne Museum, but soon walked back to the main square while everyone else stayed in the museum. It was just like in the movie. Walking down to the far end of the square, noticed a Cafe de 6th Juin. These people have not forgotten. I peeked in the church where they were holding special Memorial services. The stain glass window above the altar was extraordinary -- a beautiful piece depicting our paratroopers descending onto the church. I loved it.

That wasn’t all in this long and fruitful day. On to Utah Beach we pushed, walking along the fortified beach. Near where we parked sat an M8 armored car and a half-track. Barbed wire was still strung along the dune line, and the bunkers were in great shape. Another murderous beach, but better than Omaha. . . .

-- Erik Donald France, May 24, 1981.

Today's Rune: Warrior.

No Shoes

I've never seen the lyrics to John Lee Hooker's "No Shoes" (1960) transcribed, so here's my quick and dirty take. It's simple but deep as is often the case with Hooker. This one is as delivered on the Travelin' album and later compilations. The great bluesman -- who made his breakthrough in Detroit -- could barely read or write, yet he composed scores and scores of memorable songs.

Aside: "No Shoes" appears briefly in the background during Ridley Scott's American Gangster (2007) in a scene where Frank Lucas gathers his family in Greensboro, North Carolina.

If anyone has any suggestions for tweaking this transcription, by all means . . .

No food on my table
And no shoes to go on my feet
No food on my table
And no shoes to go on my feet
My children cry for mercy
They ain’t got no place to call their own

Hard times, hard times
Hard times seem like a jealous thing
Hard times, hard times
Hard times seem like a jealous thing
If somebody don’t help me
And I just can’t be around free much long[er]

No shoes on my feet
And no food go on my table, oh no
It’s too sad
The children crying for bread

Today's Rune: Journey, Partnership.

Obama in Cairo

Obama continues to rock the world. His speech in Cairo was dazzling. Here's a snippet:

It's easier to start wars than to end them. It's easier to blame others than to look inward. It's easier to see what is different about someone than to find the things we share . . .

And to backtrack slightly:

I know there are many -- Muslim and non-Muslim -- who question whether we can forge this new beginning. Some are eager to stoke the flames of division, and to stand in the way of progress. Some suggest that it isn't worth the effort -- that we are fated to disagree, and civilizations are doomed to clash. Many more are simply skeptical that real change can occur. There's so much fear, so much mistrust that has built up over the years. But if we choose to be bound by the past, we will never move forward. And I want to particularly say this to young people of every faith, in every country -- you, more than anyone, have the ability to reimagine the world, to remake this world.

Full English text can be read here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-Cairo-University-6-04-09/

Obama is stepping up to a real Lincoln-for-the-world leadership role. I dig, and though nobody should agree with someone all the time about everything (even I don't agree with every little nuance), I do dig the gist and the direction, the scale and the scope. Epic. No matter what happens, this president is making a concerted effort like few -- if any -- before. Godspeed to President Obama and good luck to humanity!

Today's Rune: Flow. [Photo credit: Chuck Kennedy, White House.]

Salt: Not a Pillar, Exactly, But Still There Beneath Detroit

Not sure if the Detroit Salt Company is still mining deicing salt these days, but they were as of a couple of years ago. Before that, Detroit's underground salt was used in foods and leather products. For more, see: http://www.detroitsalt.com/home.htm

Hopefully there are no salt vampires lurking in the mine shafts, nor is the notorious Red Dwarf ready to pop out like a Jack-in-the-Box.

Has anyone in the blogosphere been down in the salt mines?

Today's Rune: Possessions/Fehu.

The Post-American World: GM Spins Off The Hummer

General Motors, the once-dominant American corporation based in Detroit, USA, will spin off its clunky militaristic Hummer brand to the Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company, based in Chengdu, Sichuan, China. Though many Americans have probably never even heard of Chengdu, the city is more than ten times larger than Detroit, and growing rapidly.

At least for the next few years, Hummers will still be built in the United States, primarily for their new Chinese owners, who will probably deploy them mostly for heavy construction-type work.

Still reading a very pertinent and helpful book by Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World (2009 edition with new preface). Helpful in grasping the convulsive paradigm shift away from "The American Century" into a more complex, multi-polar reality that the USA no longer dominates. Best read to the tune of Bob Dylan's "It's All Good"!

Today's Rune: Journey.

Split Decision

It's fun seeing where visitors come from, in profile. Looks like lately half come from the USA and about half come internationally. That's fine by me. All readers and commenters are appreciated.

Busy day today of mostly manual labor, hence this brief post. But more soon, I suspect.

Today's Rune: Defense.