D-Day; Normandy, September 2017
It is D-Day, but 75 years later. It was a triumph for the Allies, the beginning of Axis disaster. The heroics and sacrifice on the ground are beyond comprehension. Visiting the beaches and museums and the Colville-sur-Mer American cemetery gives us only a partial appreciation of the bravery and terror shared by all the combatants. The region is placid now, but peace was achieved at great cost. Walking the beaches and trying to absorb the lessons we might - and should - draw is an exercise in reflection and introspection.
The headstones convey their own messages.
Omaha Beach.
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Parts of the Mulberry docks and scuttled hulks remain.
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Kelp clumps on the beach are unsettling modern reminders of those who died here.
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The edge of the cemetery begins descending over the bank to the invasion beaches.
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Pointe du Hoc. Where Rangers climbed against all odds. The barbed wire remains.
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After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.