He kept her picture in his pocket that was closest to his heart

I recently visited Normandy with a good friend. I'd wanted to visit
for some time, I'm a history geek of sorts & I blame my interest on my
grandfather's involvement in WW2.

One of the things I liked most is that outside of the large towns
Normandy doesn't look as though it's changed much in over 65 years.
It's a strange mix of being eerie & completely peaceful at the same
time.

One of the places we visited was Utah Beach near Pouppeville. As you
stand there looking out at the beach it's hard to fathom that Aliied
forces managed to land over 23,000 men & 1700 vehicles in a single day
whilst sustaining relatively few casualties (197) in comparison to
some of the other D-Day landing beaches.

Over 425,000 Allied and German troops were killed, wounded or went
missing during the Battle of Normandy

Whilst looking out I was reminded of a song called "Houses On The
Hill" by Whiskeytown

"Eisenhower sent him to war, he kept her picture in his pocket
that was closest to his heart and when he hit shore it must have been
a target for the gunner-men"

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