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Dead Man's Corner Museum & Its FlaK 37

Or from those locales where they fought from opening up a museum - or two - or three.

In May 2013, my son Peter graduated from Suffolk University in Boston, and my graduation gift to him was a trip to Normandy, Verdun, Bastogne, Cologne and Berlin. He's a hardcore "Band of Brothers" fan, so we spent much of our stay in the Normandy region running down the places where the real "Band of Brothers" fought.

I mean EVERY place we could find:

Brecourt Manor

St. Mere Eglise, where Lt. Richard Winters dropped into France

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont

Vierville

Carentan

One of the lesser-known places (not in the Stephen Ambrose book) is literally a wide spot in the road outside the small town of Carentan that has come to be known as "Dead Man's Corner."

It's located at the intersection of the Saint-Côme-du-Mont/Carentan road that leads from Utah Beach through Sainte-Marie-du-Mont and into Carentan. That small city sits astride the Cherbourg-Paris rail line, and was in the middle of the only route from Omaha and Utah Beaches inland. So it was vital to both sides that they have possession of Carentan. Overall German commander Erwin Rommel had charged the 6th Regiment of Fallschirmjäger (paratroops) with holding Carentan, and the house at the intersection was both the HQ of the 6th Regiment and its field aid station. The locale supposedly got its very colorful name because of a knocked-out Stuart tank beside the road with its dead commander hanging out one of the hatches.

The house survived the war, and has been turned into a museum with a superb collection of arms, equipment and uniforms from both sides. A highlight for BoB fans is a uniform donated by then-Lieutenant (later Major) Dick Winters, the then-commander of Easy Company.

But commerce will not be denied: the downstairs is devoted to a huge war surplus outlet chockablock with replicas and originals, with everything from the "crickets" used by US Airborne troops as a signal during their night jump into Occupied France all the way to MG42s and M-1s.

Outside is a FlaK 37 88mm antiaircraft gun sitting in the back yard. You can tell it's the later 37 model because the controls use dials and not idiot lights. While showing some signs of age and the elements, it's still worth some time spent with Germany's most-feared artillery piece.