Minuteman Minute | National Guard Monument

Under the National Guard Monument in Normandy sits the German gun that defended Omaha Beach on D-Day. The monument and gun stand as silent testaments to the heroism of Guardsmen.

Hi, I’m Will Roulett, director of the National Guard Memorial Museum here in D.C., and this is your Minuteman Minute! I'm standing in the bunker underneath the National Guard monument in Vierville-sur-Mer, France. It was known as position WN72 when the Germans built it to defend Omaha Beach as part of Hitler's Atlantic Wall. This bunker’s 88-millimeter gun was critically important to defending the Vierville Draw, or path, inland. The gun here covered the beach at an angle, interlocking with another such gun to the east. By pre-sighting every inch of the beach, as evidenced by this range-finding painting, the Germans were deadly accurate. On D-Day, this gun had devastating effects against any American armor that survived the harrowing amphibious landing. Still, men of the National Guard’s 29th Infantry Division landed here, overcame this and the network of German defenses, which opened the Vierville draw and the road to Berlin. Come learn about this – and a whole lot more – at the National Guard Memorial Museum. I’m Will Roulett, and that’s been your Minuteman Minute, brought to you by the National Guard Educational Foundation.