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© Stéphane Compoint
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Site 3 : American Cemetery in Colleville sur Mer. Officially opened in 1956, this cemetery is 70 acres ans is located on the hills overlooking Omaha Beach. It was designed by Harbeson , Hough, Livingston & Larson and space was arranged by landscape architect Markley Stevenson who made sure that, no matter what angle, you see a row of crosses. At the entrance of the cemetery, a bronze statue of 7 meters high, inside the semicircle formed by the colonnade of the memorial, faces the square tombs. It symbolizes the spirit of American youth rising from the waves. The statue is surrounded by pebbles symbolizing the difficulty of the tanks to pass the beach. The white marble headstones are in the form of a Latin cross or Star of David shape for the soldiers of the Jewish faith. In the cemetery are buried the bodies of 9,388 people, including 307 unknown and four women. These people are mostly dead on D-Day or in the following weeks in Normandy, mainly in combat. 14,000 remains, first buried in Normandy, were repatriated to the United States, at the request of their families. 3 holders of the Medal of Honor died in Normandy stay in Colleville, including General Theodore Roosevelt Junior (1887-12 July 1944 , eldest son of the President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and distant cousin of President Franklin Roosevelt). Two of Niland brothers, whose story inspired Steven Spielberg to write the screenplay of the film "Saving Private Ryan ", are also buried here.
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