Quiet and imposing, a loss for words

I wasn't quite ready for the monument. I had wondered how the site might be recognized and as we drove through Normandy towards the coast, there had been several indicators that we were approaching a special place. Periodically, we'd pass a cemetary in the open country side. Some of them were surrounded by low, brick walls. Walking through these smaller cemetaries, the markers bore the names of British or American soldiers.
Back in the car, we would drive further, passing villages and I kept wondering what it had been like on the day of the invasion, on the days following the invasion and the weeks afterward.
At Couleville, the American cemetary is an insprising site. Driving into the grounds, silence is all around, it felt like the spirits of the dead were watching over the entire area. On the beach with it's wide expanse stood the monument above . It's an imposing figure, not especially tall but words inscribed cause one to pause, listen to the waves and feel the sense of what took place there, those many years ago.