Here is another shot from our visit to Paris. What a great city. Suppose I could have cloned out the crane on the right, but ended up leaving it in. Maybe I can reprocess it someday when I have a little extra time.
France
The Medium Tank (M4) was the primary tank produced by the USA for its own use, as well as that of the Allied Forces, during World War II. Production of the M4 exceeded 50,000 units. Interesting,y, the M4 was not dubbed the Sherman by U.S. forces, but rather by the United Kingdom, who named it after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman. The Brits regularly named its American-built tanks after famous American Civil War generals. I found this Sherman tank at the impressive Airborne Museum at Sainte-Mère-Église. By the way, if you look beyond the main gun, you’ll notice a church tower with a white parachute canopy hanging from it. Some of you may recall the famous incident involving 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) paratrooper John Steele, whose chute caught upon spire of the church. Steele hung there for two hours, watching the raging battle below, before he was captured by the Germans. You can see a re-enactment of that incident in one of my favorite War movies, The Longest Day. Red Buttons played the role of John Steele.
Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.Dear Madam,I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln
The American Cemetery, at Colleville-sur-Mer, France
(Creative Notes: I shot this with the Nikon D700 and the Nikkor 28-300 F/3.5-5.6 G ED VR lens. Post processed the image to the moving Hymn to the Fallen by John Williams.)
During a recent trip to France, I had the opportunity to spend the day on a guided tour of Normandy. It’s hard to describe the emotion one feels when standing on such ground, so I won’t try to do so. What I will do is to show you some photographs of the area, and give you a little back story, beginning with this shot of the batteries at Longues-sur-Mer.
Built in the first months of 1944, the at Loungues-sur-Mer included four 150-mm guns, housed in casements, located in the middle of the assault sector on the top of a 65 meter cliff overlooking the Channel, and with clear line of sight and in range of Omaha (American sector) and Gold (British sector) beaches. In the very early morning hours of 6 June 1944, the French cruiser Georges Leygues and the U.S. battleship Arkansas opened fire on the batteries. The batteries returned fire, forcing the headquarters ship HMS Bulolo to retreat to a safe distance about one kilometer from the shoreline. The German guns ceased fire briefly, but then reengaged the allies, continuing to fire until 1900 hours (7pm for you civilians). While three of the four guns had been disabled by the British cruisers HMS Ajax and Argonaut, the batteries, along with 184 men, did not surrender to the British until the following day. (Creative notes: For inspiration, I post-processed this photograph and wrote the post while listening to the awesome Band of Brother’s score. I shot the photograph below as the sun was still rising over Normandy, using my Nikon D700 and my “travel lens”, the Nikkor 28-300 f/3.5-5.6 ED VR. The shot above, from inside the gun casement, comes courtesy of the Nikkor 14-24 F/2.8 lens.)
I realize that this is not the typical fare from me, but I felt somehow moved to bring out something a little different for the first workday of the week. We all need a small measure of peace and beauty in our lives every once in a while, no? And so it was for me what I walked into Monet’s beautiful gardens in Giverny, France; I was in the midst of true beauty. The tripod, however, was in the car! No worries, my trusty Nikon D700 was more than capable of being handheld while giving me the sweet brackets I needed to bring this shot to you all. While the weather that day was overcast and wet, I think this shot still allows me to conjure up the inner peace I felt standing in this little slice of heaven. Hey, it inspired Monet, right?
By the way, I chose the song A Small Measure of Peace, by Hans Zimmer, from his soundtrack for another of my favorite movies, The Last Samurai.
