Thank You to my Amazing Aunty Sheila

Thank You to my Aunt Sheila who has been a tremendous help throughout the past several months of fundraising. She has sold soup and other foods at her work in order to raise money for my trip she has spent time and energy to set up her stand at work every week in order to raise money for my trip. She has raised hundreds of dollars to go toward my trip. She is a truly wonderful person and I will always remember her contributions and work that went towards my People to People adventure.

A Very Special Thanks to Mr. Bill Evans

I would like to thank my Tae Kwon Do instructor Mr. Bill Evans for his support for the past several months of the fundraising process. In addition to writing a letter of recommendation to help me get accepted into the People to People Student Ambassador program, afterward he took time out of his schedule to help me in fundraising for my trip. He has given me advice on how to raise money and even gave me an area to work in his own office. His advice and contributions have been invaluable to this entire process and for that I am truly grateful for.    

A Thank you to my Cousin Pat Tuero!

I want to Thank my Cousin Patricia  for both her donation and her thoughtful handwritten letter she mailed all the way from California!!

Thank you to my Aunt Fran!

I would like to thank my aunt Fran for her donation to my People to People trip!

Buckingham Palace

The Delegation and I will get the chance to see the one and only Buckingham palace. We'll get to explore the giant 5 story palace and see its world famous guards. I will get the chance to learn about the history and architecture of the over 300 year old palace of Kings and Queens.

  Although there has been gardens and houses on the land the first building that would later become Buckingham palace was constructed for the first Duke of Buckingham and Normanby in 1703 (finished in 1705) to the design of William Winde. This building formed the core of the future Buckingham palace. A first it had only 3 floors and was known as the Buckingham House. Eventually in 1761 one of the Duke’s decedents sold the land to King George III for 21,000 pounds (3,000,000 pounds today). It was originally purchased to be a private retreat, mainly for the Queen, and the building was referred to as the Queen's house. Remodeling began only a few years after the purchase and in 1820 George IV continued constructing it as if it were a small comfortable home. After the king's death his younger brother, William IV took charge of constructing the palace and even at one point considered turning it into the new home for the Houses of Parliament since the last one burned down in 1834. Then in 1837 Queen Victoria comes to the throne and made it her new residence and it remained the home of the British royal family to this day. It is known for hosting State occasions and Royal hospitality. It has been looked to by the British people in times of great rejoicing and crisis.

 

Thank you Mrs. Peggy Bovaird!

I would like to thank my good friend from my Tae Kwon Do class, Peggy Bovaird for helping me become a Student Ambassador by giving her donation.

The Beaches of Normandy

One of the most exciting places that I will visit this summer is the infamous beaches of Normandy, the site of the D-Day landing. I wrote an article on the D-Day landings to help you realize how historic this site is.

 4 years after German forces over ran France, and the British expelled from continental Europe, 3 years since Hitler invaded the USSR, 2 and a half years after the US formally entered the war, the Germans were now either halted or retreating on the eastern front, defeated in North Africa, and being pushed up the Italian peninsula. The allies then started stockpiling troops and supplies and launching strategic bombing runs in preparation for the D-Day landings to liberate Nazi occupied France. 



Then the supreme commander of allied expeditionary forces general Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a message to all members of the allied expeditionary force, "You are about to embark upon the great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months". In the middle of the night 3 divisions of paratroopers (2 American and 1 British) had landed behind enemy lines to help facilitate the D-Day landings. Then in the early morning of June 6 1944, 6 infantry divisions, 160,000 Allied troops landed at along a 50-mile (80K) stretch of beach separated into 5 sections of beaches, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. With the support of 195,700 naval and merchant Navy personnel, and 5000 ships this was the largest amphibious invasion in human history and was executed by land, sea and air elements.

In addition to the invasion of Normandy there was a massive deception campaign to confuse the Germans and convince them that the landings would be at Pas-de-Calais because the distance from England was shorter. To do this the allies launched operation fortitude south. The goal of the operation was to convince Adolf Hitler that the invasion will be made up of the nonexistent first United States army group, led by real General George S Patton. It also was meant to convince the Germans that the Normandy invasion was just a diversion from the main invasion. Other successful operations include operation Glimmer and Operation Taxable which involved heavy bombers flying precise patterns to France during the D-Day invasion. The planes carried radar reflecting aluminum strips to create a picture on German radar of an incoming invasion fleet. Ultimately these campaigns were successful in convincing Hitler because he refused to move vital forces from Pas-de-Calais to Normandy until it was too late.