"The memorial area is organized around a 22-foot tall bronze statue, “The Spirit of American Youth Rising From the Waves,” facing west toward the headstones. The symbolic figure is a reminder of the youth of the D-Day troops and the heroism they displayed. The red granite base of the monument is encircled with bronze lettering with the inscription: MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE COMING OF THE LORD. The stones set in the memorial area floor are from Omaha Beach.
The memorial is flanked by a semicircular limestone colonnade; carved on the lintel is the inscription THIS EMBATTLED SHORE, PORTAL OF FREEDOM, IS FOREVER HALLOWED BY THE IDEALS, THE VALOR AND THE SACRIFICES OF OUR FELLOW COUNTRYMEN. At each end of the colonnade is a
loggia containing maps of operations and battle narratives in English and French. The map on the south loggia depicts the Normandy landings and subsequent movement inland; the north loggia map shows the Allied movements through Western Europe from D-Day until the German surrender in May 1945.
There are four large inscribed bronze urns in the memorial area. Two versions are set in each loggia, which mirror the urns in the opposite loggia. The first version depicts a dying warrior astride a charging horse, symbolic of war, as an Angel supports him and receives his spirit. On the opposite side, a woman kneels holding her child beside the decorated grave of a soldier as the star of eternal life shines above, symbolic of the wartime sacrifice by women and children. The laurel leaf garland around the top signifies victory and honor.
The second version of the urn is inscribed with a figurative representation of God in Genesis, Chapter 1: “The spirit of the lord moved on the face of the waters.” On the water below, a spray of laurel recalls to memory those who lost their lives at sea; a rain bow emanates from each hand of the figure symbolizing hope and peace. The opposite side of the urn shows an angel pushing away a stone, symbolic of the resurrection.
Facing west at the memorial, the reflecting pool is in the foreground; beyond are two flagpoles where the American flag flies daily, and the burial area with a circular chapel.
Behind the memorial area, the semicircular Walls of the Missing are inscribed with the names of 1,557 Americans who lost their lives in the invasion of Normandy and associated operations, but whose remains could not be located or identified. Bronze rosettes mark the names of those recovered and identified since the walls were inscribed. There are no dates of death on the wall because this is unknown for many of those lost. Beds of polyanthus roses trim the garden, while a variety of trees grace the lawn areas. On the western side of the garden, the rear of the colonnade is inscribed with a quote from Eisenhower, taken from an address at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London honoring Americans who fell in the war: TO THESE WE OWE THE HIGH RESOLVE THAT THE CAUSE FOR WHICH THEY DIED SHALL LIVE.
Among those memorialized on the Walls of the Missing are many soldiers from the 66th Infantry Division who were lost in the sinking of the Belgian troopship S.S. Leopoldville. On Christmas Eve, 1944, the Leopoldville was carrying American and British soldiers across the English Channel when it was torpedoed by a German submarine. As the ship sank, more than 750 Americans perished in the icy waters; many of their remains were lost to sea and could not be recovered."
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