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to benefit
Far from Home, but Not Forgotten

by Jeff Lytle “SEA” THE Hope
Contact Jeff Lytle, who has covered Southwest Florida since 1975.
pilgrimage to Normandy had been on
our travel list since meeting D-Day LUNCHEON
A 2 veteran Peter Thomas, who passed
away at age 92 in 2016.
We finally got there this spring, when my
wife, Susan, and I were in Tuscany and did an
add-on cruise from Normandy to Copenhagen.
We anticipated an emotional experience.
What we did not expect was an emotional experience a
week earlier, when our Tuscany tour guide took our bus for an NOVEMBER 16 2026
unannounced stop.
After seeing the tourist sites of Florence, we drove to a hilly
countryside and wound our way through meticulously curved
rows of white headstones. We were at the Florence American
Cemetery, 70 acres with the remains of nearly 4,400 troops, most 11:30AM
of them killed in the waning days of World War II in 1944. The
nearly 1,400 missing Americans are memorialized with names in
granite.
Wall maps lay out the vast investment of U.S. blood, sweat at
and tears in that era in Europe.
By coincidence, Florence American Cemetery was the first
memorial mentioned in a documentary film about the 26 U.S.
cemeteries in 17 countries -- narrated by Peter Thomas, who
became one of the world's most important voice artists.
Our tour group leader, a native Italian, said she was moved
by cemetery visits with her grandfather, and thought we would
appreciate seeing that one.
We did.
The Normandy American Cemetery put everything
in perspective with more than twice as many acres and
manicured gravesites, and a Garden of the Missing with 1,560
remembrances. $150
We were able to inspect preserved German bunkers and
marveled how the site was ever taken -- against such deadly odds.
The cemetery is on a cliff over Omaha Beach, with the English per ticket
Channel in the line of sight. "American Youth Rising from the
scan to
Waves" is the striking title of a keynote statue saluting strength
and joy. Tables and
The spirit and experience marches on after 82 years, with daily purchase
flag-lowering ceremonies at dusk and 1 million visitors per year
since 1956. Sponsorships
Hearing about Normandy is one thing. Seeing it in person is
something else.
A new Hollywood movie, Pressure, is devoted to the also available
monumental military assault being so dependent upon something
beyond control -- the weather.
Aptly, it was windy and cold the day we were there.
Jeff Lytle has covered and commented on the Naples area since graciously sponsored by
1979. Contact him at jlytle1951@gmail.com
C I N D Y E N G L E S N A M I C O L L I E R . O R G

58 www.LifeInNaples.net