It is hard to imagine what must of been going on in these soldiers heads when the ramp lower and they were faced with machine gun fire.
I was lucky enough to visit this site just a few weeks ago. While walking on the beach looking up at the dunes in front of a remaining pill box, I was stuck by the certainty that men had died right where I was standing. It was quite a profound feeling that left me a bit despaired. In one of those perfect moments, just when I was at my lowest a child ran giggling down the beach flying a kite (or trying to).
It was only then that I realized, that while there were certainly many people like me, that had come to see the site of one of the most famous battles of history, there were also many families that had just come to enjoy a day at the beach. And while I can not speak for the any of the people that lost their lives that day, in that moment I was heartened with the thought that this is what they fought for, children building sand castles.
I had just intended to write a line about the picture and let it speak for itself, but that story about the beach just bubbled out of me. It's amazing how writing about something can really heighten your feelings and bring them into focus.
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