The guide is now taking you to visit the beautiful maintained American Cemetery in Colleville sur Mer which overlooks Omaha Beach nearby. The 180 acre site contains 9,387 perfectly aligned white crosses and a memorial chapel which adds the finishing touches to this moving scene, allowing visitors to reflect on the price of war. While walking along row upon row of white grave headstones, your historian guide will share with you stories of soldiers who fought in the vicinities and then were awarded for gallantry the highest military decorations. The memorial consists of a semicircular colonnade with a loggia at each end containing large maps and narratives of the military operations; at the center is the bronze statue, “Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves.” An orientation table overlooking the beach depicts the landings in Normandy.