Places of Interest

[Wild Geese]

OK, not precisely IN New Orleans, but very close.

If you can make your way up to Baton Rouge, the USS Kidd is afloat on the east bank of the Mississippi.
Scary cool.
I had the good fortune of going there early one cool, foggy December Sunday morning about 30 years ago.
Driving towards the river this vessel arises out of the mists, her starboard side towards you.
The radar was rotating, the flags were flying, all guns have canvas muzzel covers & bracing belts, there are ammo cans in all of the ready-ammo cabinets, 5" ammo in the 5 turrets appears to have just come up from below, ropes are coiled & in place, the CIC is ready, with each member's marked helmets sitting at their stations, there's 'food' on the tables in the mess & Betty Grable pictures in crew spaces . . . it appears that the crew JUST walked off, leaving her ready to sail.

She's sitting in a specially built cradle, facing up river, so that in all but the lowest water she's afloat, but allowing one to view her hull when the river is at it's lowest.

And an excellent WWII museum is on shore . . . WELL worth the time . . .

Wild Geese

[redleg]

Thanks for the tip on the USS Kidd, Wild Geese! I didn't know it was there, but I will definitely check it out on my next trip that way. I believe we will be in New Orleans in a year or two so perhaps I will take a little drive!

[redleg]

I had a chance to visit the USS Midway Museum again this past weekend. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail since I posted photos earlier in this thread, but I wanted to provide a word of warning to anyone planning to visit the ship in the next month or so: The ship is decorated for the holidays, and that includes draping Christmas lights all over the aircraft on the flight deck. It’s festive and everything, but if you are looking to take photos of aircraft, it’s kind of a bummer to have them covered with lights.

The ship is still spectacular. I have been twice this year and I will go back many more times, but my photo taking was minimal this visit. On a bright note – I did the Island Tour this visit, which I skipped last time. Well worth the wait to get a guided tour of the bridge, pri-fly, vultures row, the tunnel of love, etc.

While on the bridge a snapped a pic of this board. The bridge and CIC are set up as they appeared during Desert Storm, so they were tracking the ships of these 3 battle groups. What I thought was funny was that the ships seemed to have pretty cool call signs, but Midway was operating as “School Boy”. I asked the tour guide why “School Boy”, but he didn’t know.


And a bonus – the USS Abraham Lincoln was in port across the bay at North Island.

[redleg]

I was very fortunate to be able to spend a couple weeks in Paris for the Olympics, and I managed a daytrip to Normandy to check out the D-Day beaches. Posting this to Places of Interest seems like a no-brainer. Everyone who is in the area should visit the Normandy beaches. Sadly, I only had one day, and I could easily spend a week here visiting all 5 beaches and the adjacent museums and cemeteries. I will definitely be back.

We did a tour that left Paris early in the morning and visited Omaha and Utah beaches, plus the Utah Beach Museum and an American cemetery before heading back to Paris. We spent most of our time at Utah, and a light rain set in by the time we got to Omaha, but still a truly amazing experience.

Utah Beach:






Omaha Beach:






Pointe du Hoc:


Teddy Roosevelt Jr’s cane:


My crazy daughter with an AA gun:


American Cemetery:


And on a humorous note, I was walking around Paris when I saw this sign. Even in my rudimentary French I should have known what this was, but I got excited and thought it was a museum dedicated to the liberation of Paris. I paid 15 Euro to go in and then I realized it was a museum dedicated to a 1966 movie about the liberation of Paris! LOL At least I got to see General Leclerc's hat and jacket!

[MechCommander]

Normandy is something I’m planning on visiting at some point in the future mainly Juno Beach. As my Grandfather was a crewman on a Sherman DD or later tank variant during that invasion.

[chrisswim]

Redleg, thank you for posting these great pictures. Certainly delighted you were able to see LeClerc hat and Jacket. Any de Gaulle?
Wonderful trip for you. Your daughter is “cool”!
Great trip.

[pmskaar]

Wow, Redleg, those are amazing photos. I have never been to France but a trip to Normandy would be great. Thanks for sharing.

I hope you and the family had a wonderful time on your visit. It looks like you did.

[redleg]

Another spot of mild interest in Southern California is the Great Park in Irvine. It's a large park that is primarily an outdoor sports complex, but it is on the land that used to be MCAS El Toro. My daughter had a cross country meet there yesterday, and if you know where to look there are some signs of the site's former life as a USMC air base.

One of the hangars is still there, and there are a few display aircraft almost hidden behind some buildings. A portion of runway / taxi way is still there. Most of the original buildings are gone, but there are outlines in the ground that show where some buildings once stood. There is also a plaque at the park to commemorate VMF-241, for the Baa Baa Blacksheep fans out there!

I wouldn't go out of my way to visit the park for military history purposes, but if you are there anyway it's fun to look for sings of it's military past.

[Cav Dog]

My wife and I went to England and France for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day celebration. Possibly the best trip of my life.

Started out in Cornwall seeing a college friend and had to stop at Stonehenge:


Then to London for the Imperial War Museum (HMS Belfast), Churchill War Room, Buckingham Palace and Bletchey Park.



Off to Portsmouth for the D-Day Tapestry (no pics allowed) but did see an LST with a Sherman and a Churchill.


We took a channel ferry to France and then saw St Mere Eglise, Utah Beach and Pt Du Hoc.






Went to the ceremony where President Biden and President Macron spoke at the US Cemetery above Omaha Beach"

Not a great pic but these are some of the surviving vets who attended:


Next day went to Arromanches and saw the Mulberry Museum and an airshow as well as drove by the Canadian War Cemetery at Courseulles-Sur-Mer.



Pegasus Bridge and the British Airborne Museum




We couldn't get to Omaha Beach on the tour due to security so we stayed in Bayeux a couple of extra days which gave us a chance to see Omaha when it was practically deserted.





Took a side trip to Mont St Michel and the German Cemetery at La Cambe




Another view of Mont St Michel from another smaller German cemetery along the way:


Drove to Paris, jumped on the Eurostar back to London and flew home.

[chrisswim]

Cav, thank you for sharing your pictures. Very nice. I really like the stones and crosses of the German soldiers. A friend 30 years ago stumbled into a cemetery for German dead. Dark stone was used.

Thank you.

[pmskaar]

Great pictures, Cav Dog!

[redleg]

Thanks for sharing those amazing pics Cav Dog! That looks like the trip of a lifetime!

[Cav Dog]

Adding a few more pics
Other equipment displayed outside the British Airborne Museum:





Bullet and shell markings in the original Pegasus bridge:


More from the US Airborne Museum at Sainte-Mere-Èglise:

National Guard Monument at Vierville-sur-Mere

Inside of a bunker at WN 62 above Omaha

Ike Statue in Bayeux:

We had an informal wreath laying ceremony here and the guide asked if anybody had anything to share so I recited Fiddler's Green and toasted to absent comrades.

One of the many encampments of the "re-enactors". People come from all over dressed in every conceivable WW2 uniform. You would think you were in Normandy following the invasion. They really get into it and celebrated! Hundreds of vintage vehicles, some running, some not but very well cared for and displayed.



These were outside the Overlord Museum in Colleyville-Sur-Mer




Ran into some Belgian Paras guys selling their "wares"


They were giving rides in this thing as well as in some of the many Sherman tanks but I declined having been bounced around plenty in the back of military vehicles, I didn't need to do it on vacation!


I wonder if anybody will be making this decal anytime soon?

[7.62]

Great photos guys.

[redleg]

More great pics Cav Dog!

Well done with Fiddler's green! I think I'll have a drink right now to honor The Boys - yours and mine both!