Remembering their Sacrifice: The 77th Anniversary of D-Day

潮汐消失时，我们到达了海滩。很长一段路。当我们走到水边时，温暖的微风吹来。“直到你下水之前，不要回头。”当我们走到那里，转身。。。

。。。凝视着俯瞰的虚张声势Plage de Colleville-sur-Mer. On this day 77 years ago, the scene on Omaha Beach was far different from the quiet, sunny morning we experienced while there. It was, however, a powerful moment to try and imagine the landings made by the American V Corps.

On that quiet beach youcould almost grasp the horror that美军在6月6日上午见面th, 1944.German forces occupied the high ground all along the full length of Omaha Beach. As soon as American forces began spilling out of the landing craft, the Germans opened fire.

We had come to Omaha precisely at this time to experience how much beach the soldiers had to cross under heavy fire to secure the exit road from the beach to Vierville-sur-Mer. Although the sand was somewhat packed, it was still an effort for us to walk across the beach.

It was only a couple hundred yards. But there was nowhere to hide; and the German attack was relentless.

Then and Now

在整个50英里的诺曼底海岸沿途，都有记忆盟军牺牲的地方和时刻。作为一名摄影师，我对现代海滩和1944年发生的可怕战斗之间的对比感到震惊。大多数日子，海滩靠近空旷或充满了游客，就像战前一样。但是，冲浪线上的奥马哈海滩的图像与世界上任何其他海滩一样。一张照片并不总是传达出该地点的历史的感觉。它的故事。我希望我的图像传达这种对比。因此，我在1940年代的历史悠久的黑白图像中“幽灵”，并在2016年和2018年制作了自己的图像。

Pointe du Hoc is four miles to the west of Omaha. You can stand between the bombed out remains of German gun emplacements and the cliffs. Here the Second Ranger Battalion scaled the cliffs under heavy fire from above. Their mission was to capture a German defensive position that had large guns aimed at Utah Beach.

Farther to the west, the American VII Corps was making their seaborne landing. After coming ashore their mission was to take and secure the town of Ste. Mere Eglise, linking up with paratroops from the 82nd和101st空降师。

沿着奥马哈以东的海岸十二英里，英国50英里thInfantry Division landed at Gold beach; between the villages of Arromanches and Ver-sur-Mer. Following D-Day a massive artificial “Mulberry” port would be constructed for allied supplies to be landed.

Juno Beach, two miles farther east, the 3rd加拿大师正在Courselles-Sur-Sur Mer和Saint-Aubin的海边村庄之间降落。

The British 3rd步兵师降落在诺曼底海滩东端的剑滩，沿海沿海城镇Ouisterham附近。他们的任务是开车内陆并占领凯恩市。

All along this 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast, Americans and their allies landed and attacked Hitler’s vaunted Atlantic Wall defense. Over 57,000 Americans landed at Utah and Omaha beaches; and over 75,000 British and Canadian troops landed at Gold, Juno, and Sword Beaches on D-Day.

Never Forget

The cost of freedom that day was staggering. Over 10,000 allied troops were killed, wounded, missing, or taken prisoner. It was the beginning of the end for the Nazi occupation of Europe. So many vestiges of D-Day remain as reminders for us 77 years later. None so much as the national cemeteries that occupy parcels of land that were won at so high a cost.

June 6th，1944年，“日子”改变了世界。而为今天我们所知道的自由而奋斗的那一代永远不要被遗忘。