Early in the morning on 16 February 2008, a group of more than 20 Soldiers from 5th Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery, stationed in Hanau, Germany, braved the cold and cutting wind to take the oath of reenlistment on the sands of Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. The tribute to those that paved the way for freedom from oppression and the ceremony honoring those choosing to continue their commitment started taking shape months earlier. 

In early November, 2007, Staff Sergeant Roger McGinness, career counselor for 5-7 ADA, approached Lieutenant Colonel Sean A. Gainey with the question, “Sir, what do you think of a reenlistment ceremony in Normandy?”  From that moment on, McGinness began talking about the trip as a part of his day-to-day duties as the battalion career counselor.  Over the next two months 28 Soldiers agreed to reenlist and take part in the ceremony on the hallowed grounds of “Bloody Omaha.”

     Corporal Neill Fagley, Patriot launching station enhanced operator and maintainer (MOS 14T) from Alpha Battery, 5-7 ADA, said, “First, this is a historical place that not too many people get to visit.  This was a unique opportunity that I wanted to take advantage of.”  Fagley who hails from South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, went on to say, “It was a good trip, and not everyone gets the opportunity to visit Normandy and serve in the Army at the same time.  The fact that I was able to reenlist here made it more significant to me.”

     The reenlistment ceremony took place near the Memorial Les Braves, a French tribute to the Allied liberators of first the region and then the entire country of France, as well as the adjacent Memorial to the First US Infantry Division.  Immediately following the reenlistment ceremony and a change of clothes for force-protection reasons, all personnel loaded on buses for a guided tour of several of the significant sites in the area.  Staff Sergeant McGinness and Captain Daniel Strangio, battalion S-4, worked together to accomplish the planning, administrative, legal and logistical work that ensured a “day to remember” for all Soldiers, family members and retention officers involved.

5-7 ADA Sooldiers, retention officers and chain of command at ormandy Beach's Memoiral Les Barves. (Click photo to view larger image.)

     The first stop was at Gold Beach. On June 6, 1944, British and French forces came ashore at Gold Beach, then forged inland and northward.  Some 500 meters out, the remains of a portable harbor code-named “Mulberry” still floats in testament of the sacrifices made 64 years prior.  After a briefing from Roel Klinkhamer, a civilian tour guide, and a logistical vignette from Captain Andrew Smith, the Service Battery commander, it was on to Batterie De Longues, a four-gun battery of 150mm Field Artillery guns fixed in cement bunkers on top of the plateau overlooking Omaha.  With a reach of over 14 miles, It was not hard to understand why Allied commanders made quickly neutralizing the guns, which had a reach of more than 14 miles, a top priority.

Allied commanders made silencing the 150mm guns at Batterie De Longue a top D-Day priority.

      Then it was back down to Red Three at Omaha.  A unique fact that everyone in attendance had missed until it was pointed out by Klinkhamer was the absence of wildlife on the beach.  No shells in the sand, no gulls in the air, just the constant rolling of the tide.  While at Red Three, Captain Robert Farrell, commander, Bravo Battery, 5-7 ADA, gave a vignette on the American and German order of battle in the Omaha Beach area.  Visiting the 150mm gun emplacements gave Soldiers a whole new perspective to the walk on the beach.

     The last stop of the Day was Pont Du Hoc. On D Day, US Rangers scaled Pont Du Hoc’s sheer cliffs under heavy fire to knock out a battery of 150mm guns, To the Ranger’s surprise, the 150mm guns were missing from the emplacements. The Germans had replaced them with tree trunks or telephone poles.  The Allied five-day, 24-hours-a-day preparatory bombing raids had forced the Germans to move the guns to a “hide position” in apple orchard about a mile further inland. The Rangers regrouped at the top of the cliffs, and a small patrol went off in search of the guns. This patrol found the guns nearby and destroyed them with thermite grenades. Today a Ranger Dagger stands in memory of the 225 Rangers that began the operation, and the 90 who walked or were carried away.

Lieutenant Colonel Sean A. Gainey congratulates Sergeant William Gonzalez IV, HHB, 5-7 ADA, and his wife, Lauren C. Gonzalez, on his reenlistment.

     Upon returning to Underwood Kaserne in Hanau, Specialist Victor Colon-Ramirez, from Guayma, Puerto Rico, was so motivated by the history of both Normandy and Omaha Beach that he went to the library and checked out a copy of The Longest Day, a three-hour-long movie that documents the history of D-Day from both sides of the war.  When asked about the reenlistment ceremony, Specialist Colon, an automated logistics specialist who works as a stock control clerk in Service Battery, said, “I have never been so proud.  This was a place where thousands died for a good cause; to release others from oppression.”  Colon went on to sum up the trip as “a great experience.”