Memorial Day Rememberance 2019

Memorial Day Remembrance 2019


On May 8, 2019 (Victory in Europe Day), my sister and I visited the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer to pay our respects to our grandfather, Nicholas J. ("Bud") Neises, a paratrooper who jumped on D-Day and was killed four days later. He was permanently interred at this cemetery—located on a cliff overlooking Omaha Beach—in 1948 with more than 9,380 of his comrades in arms. It was my third time visiting his grave, and my sister's first. On this day, we were also accompanied by John Torchio, who selflessly guided us throughout our trip, and his three young daughters.

It started out as a rainy and gloomy morning, but the clouds parted just in time as we set out on the road. The cemetery grounds are beautifully maintained, and on this day, visitors were not allowed to walk among the rows of graves due to the earlier weather conditions. Since we were family members, though, we were escorted to the gravesite by Flora, a friendly staff guide who led us in a private ceremony that included rubbing sand from Omaha Beach over our grandfather's grave marking and placing the French and American flags side by side next to his grave. We also placed a beautiful wreath of white flowers in front of his grave and read a letter we had written to him, leaving it beneath the flowers.

The sun was beaming the entire time during our visit.

People sometimes ask me to describe the cemetery visit. I will say that each visit is special, but the one feeling that always overcomes me is that I do not want to leave the gravesite. It's a hard thing to do because it's a long journey to Normandy and you do not want to leave someone who laid down their life and died in a place far from home and family. The least you can do is stay with them and be with them in the same place for one moment in time.

Rest in peace, Grandfather Bud. You are always very close to our hearts. You are not forgotten.