Geert Van den Bogaert

25/07/2022

In case you missed it part 8

25/07/2022

In case you missed it part 7

20/07/2022

In case you missed it part 6

20/07/2022

In case you missed it part 5

20/07/2022

In case you missed it part 4

20/07/2022

In case you missed it part 3

20/07/2022

In case you missed it part 1😉

20/07/2022

In case you missed it part 2 😉

30/05/2022

Another Challenge completed in my 44 Challenge Campaign for the Next Greatest Generation. Decorated 44 + graves with a fresh poppy on Memorial Day 🙏

29/05/2022

Memorial Day 2022: Taps

29/05/2022

Memorial Day 2022: The Star Spangled Banner and fly-over

23/05/2022

Museum #13 in my 44 WWII Museum Challenge for the Next Greatest Generation: the "D-Day Wrecks Museum" in Port-en-Bessin. The legacy of one man who spent 3 decades diving off the D-Day coast. Two of the three members of my next Greatest Generation took it all in and had the following to say:

"The anchor from the oil tanker was just SO big!"

"I loved the movie and seeing all the tanks at the bottom of the ocean."

18/05/2022

Well, you never know who will be on your tour...today I did a D-Day leadership tour for a Swiss company. One of their US based managers in the group was Mexican with German heritage.
First name: Rommel
Last name: Meyer
Those familiar with WWII history in Normandy will agree: too crazy to make up!
He was a great guy and was kind enough to read some of the Rommel quotes I had prepared for the tour.

15/05/2022

Museum #12 in my 44 Normandy WWII museum visits in a year challenge for the Next Greatest Generation: the "Battle of Tilly-sur-Seulles Museum" which tells the story of fighting for Hill 103 and the surrounding area during the first 2 weeks after D-Day. This museum greatly impacted my Next Greatest Generation (3, 9 and 12). A story of a small village like the one they live in. Liberated and lost 23 times. Wiped off the map....Here is what they said:

"It was so unfortunate for the mayor to discover he didn't have a town anymore"

"The story of the children who lost their parents made me sad"

10/05/2022

Museum #11 in my 44 Normandy WWII museum visits in a year challenge for the Next Greatest Generation: the "Quineville World War 2 Museum" which has a rather "broad" approach. My Next Greatest Generation (3, 9 and 12 years old) was away with the grandparents for the weekend so I visited with my Mrs. and imagined how we could transform the musem our way just in case we win the lottery😃😜😉

01/05/2022

Fantastic interpretation training workshop last week. I have known and worked in various capacities with this group of interpreters at the Normandy American Cemetery for close to 15 years now. Their drive and continuous dedication to make visitors connect with the fallen buried there is a true inspiration. 🙏🇲🇫🇺🇲

25/04/2022

Museum #10 in my 44 Normandy WWII museum visits in a year challenge for the Next Greatest Generation: the "Percée du Bocage" ("Busting the Bocage") museum which relates the story of Operation Bluecoat in and around the town of Saint-Martin-des-Besaces. My Next Greatest Generation (3, 9 and 12 years old) were in for yet another educational museum experience!😃Here are their highlights:

"I really liked the big model with the village and all the small tanks!"

"I liked the maps and the person who talked about them over the loudspeaker."

"I liked the gentleman who told us the story of the veteran who got shot in the neck but survived."

19/04/2022

Museum #9 in my 44 Normandy WWII museum visits in a year challenge for the Next Greatest Generation: the Franco-German Radar Museum at Douvres-la-Délivrande. The museum tells the story of radar technology in WWII and the events that unfolded at the radar site in the 9 days following D-Day. Special thanks to Christophe Rault for the invites! My Next Greatest Generation (3, 9 and 12 years old) tagged along and explored as much as they could!😃Here are their highlights:

"I really liked the small models, they were really well done."

"I liked the panel where you could press the buttons to see where all the German radar stations were."

"I liked we could touch some of the objects the Germans had."

13/04/2022

Museum #8 in my 44 Normandy WWII museum visits in a year challenge for the Next Greatest Generation: the Berjou Liberation Museum. Located in the beautiful Suisse Normande region, the museum tells the story of 3 bloody days of fighting between the British and German forces around the town of Berjou towards the end of the Battle of Normandy (14-17 August 1944). My Next Greatest Generation (3 and 12 years old), although one down with a cold (the 9 year old), happily trudged along!😃Here are their highlights:

"The gentleman in the museum knew all of the stories by hard!!"

"I liked it because all of the objects came from the people who live in the village."

11/04/2022

Getting close to having trained 150 guides who work at overseas American WWI and WWII cemeteries and memorials the past 5 years. This was another great workshop in Normandy with talented ABMC interpreters who are dedicated to connecting visitors with their powerful sites. Very grateful!

03/04/2022

Museum #7 in my 44 Normandy WWII museum visits in a year challenge for the Next Greatest Generation: America & Gold Beach Museums, Ver sur Mer . Combining the stories of the very first air mail link between the United States and France, made by the three-engined Fokker America which made a water landing at Ver-sur-Mer on the 1st of July 1927 and the Gold Beach exhibition telling the story of the painstaking preparations for the D-Day Landings by the British secret services and of the events on Gold Beach on D-Day. My Next Greatest Generation (3, 9 and 12 years old) were at it again!😃Here are their highlights:

"The scale models looked like everything was real but like smaller!"

"I loved seeing real parts of the plane."

" We could see where they went by pressing a button"

01/04/2022

How to connect their visitors in a more meaningful, enjoyable and relevant way to the D-Day sites? This fantastic group of Bayeux Shuttle , Albion Voyages guides together with Sarah Valentin et Catherine Quintal really did a great job during this week's heritage interpretation training course I gave at the Centre Juno Beach / Juno Beach Centre
Thanks for a fun and inspiring 4 days!

27/03/2022

Museum #6 in my 44 Normandy WWII museum visits in a year challenge for the Next Greatest Generation: "Memorial Cobra" in Marigny. My Next Greatest Generation (3, 9 and 12 years old) ready and willing as always!😊 And this time they even came with their 89 year old great grandma too! Special thanks to Mr. Lemerre for his very kind welcome. Here are their comments:

"The gentleman at the museum was just the best. He even wrote us a card!"

"I loved the movie. The people in it talked just like great grandma."

22/03/2022

Museums #4 and 5 in my 44 Normandy WWII museum visits in a year challenge for the Next Greatest Generation: D-Day Experience and the Normandy Victory Museum. I didn't visit these two with my Next Greatest Generation (3, 9 and 12 years old) this time but was lucky enough to join the "Greatest Generation" of Normandy Guides!😊 Enjoy the pics! Thank you to Emmanuel Allain and Patrick Fissot for their welcome and Flavie Poisson for organizing and coordinating the event (and great lunch!)

16/03/2022

After 2 years of virtual training courses (thank you National Association for Interpretation for offering that fantastic opportunity during times of Covid!) I am so happy Normandy guides will be able to get together again on 28, 29, 30 March and 1 April 2022 and enjoy exchanging ideas around the profession of heritage interpretation during a Certified Interpretive Guide Training Course at the Centre Juno Beach / Juno Beach Centre. A big thank you to Jean Fleury and Emily Jacobs at NAI and Rebecca Cline-Le Savoureux and Nathalie Worthington Pro at the Juno Beach Center for their help in making this workshop happen. We have 8 guides participating so far and 2-3 more available slots for anyone interested! Feel free to contact me at [email protected] https://www.interpnet.com/NAI/nai/_certification/registration/cigregistration.aspx?EventKey=GI032822

14/03/2022

Honored, grateful, committed: these men and their examples of courage, service and purpose will help build the Next Greatest Generation in Normandy!

So many wonderful supporters with a strong connection to Normandy and the Greatest Generation believe in the transformative power the stories of their WWII heroes can have on young people today! WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU! Marsha Smith Steve Rainwater Gayle Barksdale Rainwater Jim Kane Paul Clifford Margaret Heesen Steven Unzicker Tim Bowles Rick Scott Tommy Bowles Colleen Brennan Ann King Posman Mary Dalsin Susie Parker Holton Dwight Anderson Michael Gervasi Morgan Lyons Nadeanne Kleinman Joe Dalsin Lee Ramsey Susan Markley Marjorie Simpson-Rousseau Melissa Stetser Laurie Wooden Jeanne Leonard AnneMarie Lyall-Gould and several anonymous donors!

12/03/2022

10 minutes to H-Hour!

12/03/2022

H-4h to honoring 27 WWII veterans! Join the free live virtual tour of Omaha Beach with fellow guide Patrick Hilyer at 9 AM Eastern (3PM Europe) and let's try and reach the 2500 Euros mark in donations for the Next Gen Normandy Student Travel Grant Program! THANK YOU! https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-44-challenge-for-the-next-greatest-generation
Event streaming: https://www.welovenormandy.com/live-video

Countdown to H-Hour! 27 WWII veterans will be honored today during our 4-mile fundraiser virtual tour of Omaha Beach co-hosted by Normandy Guide Patrick Hilyer and Next Gen Normandy Program Manager Geer Van den Bogaert in support of the Next Gen Normandy Student Travel Grant Fundraiser. Join us this afternoon at 3 PM Eastern Time at: https://www.welovenormandy.com/live-video
To access the post-event Zoom Platoon Q & A session at 1:30 PM (ET) flexible donation tickets can be purchased here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-d-day-four-mile-fundraiser-walk-on-omaha-beach-tickets-273723623727?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&keep_tld=1&fbclid=IwAR3asJWZi4n3rgjHdHYy-BsOlhuF0cIxBKv25sLUPmDBr6cmDWFNtFNKNRc

11/03/2022

DON'T FORGET! Sign up for the virtual Omaha Beach Tour organized by the excellent Patrick Hilyer of We Love Normandywho invited me to join him tomorrow Saturday 12 March at 9 AM Eastern. If you buy a flexible donation ticket you get exclusive access to the "Zoom Platoon" Q & A after the event (1:30 PM) and a chance to win one of 3 copies of "Normandy War Cemeteries" signed by author Nigel Stewart, Patrick and myself. Good luck! https://www.eventbrite.fr/e/virtual-d-day-four-mile-fundraiser-walk-on-omaha-beach-tickets-273723623727?

Earn a chance to get one of three copies of "Normandy War Cemeteries" signed by author Nigel Stewart Artist and Normandy battlefield guides Patrick Hilyer and Geert Van den Bogaert ! No better way to help build the Next Greatest Generation than by instilling gratitude for those who gave their all.
How do you sign up?
Step 1: By making a flexible donation to the Next Gen Normandy travel grant fundraiser for students: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-44-challenge-for-the-next-greatest-generation
Step2: By making a flexible donation to attend a 1 hour virtual Omaha Beach Tour and get exclusive access to the "Zoom Platoon" after the show during which the winners will be announced.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-d-day-four-mile-fundraiser-walk-on-omaha-beach-tickets-273723623727?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&keep_tld=1

11/03/2022

D - 1! So happy and honored I will be able to pay tribute to close to 20 WWII heros during my 4-mile Omaha Beach fundraising tour for Next Gen Normandy student travel grants! I can still carry more Omaha shingle with veterans' names (up to 44 pounds!^^) so feel free to contact me at [email protected] THANK YOU!

Only 24 hours away from having your WWII veteran honored during a live tour of Omaha Beach! If you would like to put your hero in the spotlight while supporting the Next Gen Normandy Student Travel Grant Fundraiser, contact Program Manager Geert Van den Bogaert at [email protected]