Testimonials:
Doug Shaffer of Catonsville, MD, Western Front Association
and Great War Society Member, said after an October 2001 tour: "For the casual or serious history buff, Specialty Tours offers
dynamic, customized visits to WWI&II sites in Europe; from on-site battlefield strategies to peaceful, provocative memorials
to fallen soldiers, this tour is FIRST-RATE!"
David King of Bethesda, MD, (LTC, USA-Ret), wrote after
a May 2002 trip: "A must for all serious students of the war or those simply wanting to know where and how America
came of age as a world power!"
Tom Trapp of Oakland, CA stated after a customized 13-day
July 2003 trip: "Doug offers an outstanding custom tour package. The logistics were handled seamlessly, which allowed us to
see and learn much, much more than we could on our own, and at a very comparable pace. I highly recommend Gangler Tours!"
Adele Ervin of Manchester, MA after an October 2003
tour : "This is a good deal for a real military history affectionado or one who is of European ancestry, or who
had a relative who fought in either war."
Curt Druckrey of Livonia, MI after a tour in May 2004: "The customization of this tour
to my specific interests was really amazing! Every objective that I set for this trip was met in more precise ways than
anticipated."
Diane Vigilante said after an October 2007 tour: "Doug provided an excellent tour that
makes me want to do more reading, and take another trip with him. There is alot more to see and do. I came home
with a new sense of history that I did not have previously."
And George Majetich enthused after a Fall 2008 trip: "Doug puts his heart and soul
into the tour. He gives you his undivided attention... works in your special request... the best, informative tour of
my life!"
Starting point - Paris/CDG or Brussels International
Airport
World War II Site Possibilities:
Normandy, France:
--Omaha Beach; Colleville and Vierville
--St. Laurent American Military Cemetery and Museum
--Longues-sur-Mer German Battery; Atlantic Wall sites
--Arromanches 'Port Mulberry' and Museum
--Pointe-du-Hoc; American Rangers scaling of the cliffs
--St. Mere Eglise Airborne landings and Museum.
--Utah Beach.
--Airborne 'Iron Mike' statue outside St. Mere Eglise
--St. Lo 'bocage' (the infamous hedgerows) country; Operation COBRA
--Gold/Juno/Sword beaches
--German Blockhaus at Ouistreham.
--Pegasus Bridge and Museum
Brittany:
--Avranches; Patton's route and breakout
--St. Malo
--St. James American Cemetery
Somme, Calais, and Oise:
--V-1 site north of Rouen at Val-Ygot
--V-2 sites/bunkers at Eperlecques Forest and near St. Omer
--V-1/2 site at Siracourt
--Battery Todt Museum (German Atlantic Wall bunker)
--Cape Griz-Nez (see England on a clear day!)
--Compiegne Railroad Car and Museum; WW I armistice and WW II surrender of French
to the Germans.
Champagne:
--Reims Salle de Rendition Museum where the Germans surrendered in the West to
the Allies/Eisenhower.
Luxembourg, Belgium and the Ardennes, and just into Germany:
--Hamm American Cemetery; GEN Patton buried here.
--Diekirch Military Museum; features Battle of the Bulge
--Ettelbruck GEN Patton Statue
--Bastogne Museum and Monument
--Perimeter Positions on outskirts of Bastogne
--Malmedy; site of massacre (superb new museum)
--Skyline Drive through Luxembourg
--St. Vith and the Schnee Eifel
--La Gleize Museum; German Tiger Tank
--Elsenborn Ridge
--Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery
--German 'Siegfried Line' bunkers and 'Dragon's Teeth'
--Wallendorf
--Huertgen Forest
--Remagen Bridge Museum
Germany (starting point - Berlin):
--Peenemunde and Nordhausen V-2 sites
--Seelow Heights (Eastern Front) Museum and Monument
--Buchenwald
--Berlin: Checkpoint Charlie (Cold War but most interesting); Topography of Terror Museum;
Brandenburg Gate; Soviet War Memorial; Holocaust Memorial
--Cecilienhof Palace; site of the Big Three - Churchill, Truman, and Stalin - meeting in
July 17-August 02 1944
--Frederick the Great's Palaces in Potsdam; not WW II, but truly incredible!
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