Carnage In Color: Remembering D-Day, The Sixth Of June

Extraordinary photographs of the D-Day landings have been colorized to mark the 73rd anniversary of the largest seaborne invasion in history.

Brazilian artist Marina Amaral has transformed the images in remembrance of one of the turning points of World War II where experts believe 4,400 allied troops lost their lives.

Each image has been created following hours of research into the subject pictured, in order to make the retouching as realistic as possible.

Marina told The Sun: “I have always been fascinated by history since I was a kid, but the colorization itself came into my life in a random and unexpected way.  I was bored surfing the internet when I found a few colorized photos from the World War II in a forum.  I was using Photoshop as a hobby for many years, so I already had a sense of how the software works and what tools I should use. I tried to reproduce the atmosphere of the places and get as close as possible to what these soldiers actually saw with their own eyes.”

“The generation of World War II is almost all gone, so I think it is extremely important to rescue these photos through a process that interests the new generation. So maybe people will be able to better understand what happened.”

I am reposting a video that deeply touches my heart—a little boy who wanted to thank all the Americans who died in the fight against fascism and pure evil.  Wait for the 5-minute mark to see who joined his silent vigil.

They Shall Not Grow Old As We That Are Left Grow Old

Over 160,000 troops from America, Britain, Canada, free France, Poland and other nations landed along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast of France. It was the largest amphibious invasion force in world history, supported by 5,000 ships with 195,700 navy personnel and 13,000 aircraft.

On that day, the sea along the heavily-fortified beaches of Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, Sword and Pointe du Hoc ran red with the blood of almost 9,000 killed or wounded. It was a major turning point in World War II. Eleven months after D-Day, the war in Europe ended with an Allied victory on May 8, 1945.

On that ominous day, President Franklin Roosevelt had asked the American people to join him in prayer.  He concluded: 

“Help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice...I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts. Give us strength…and, O Lord, give us Faith. Give us Faith in Thee…With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy…And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.”

Normandy: The 6th Of June

Normandy's cliffs are still littered with gun emplacements and other heart-rending reminders of the invasion that freed a continent including the white headstones of thousands of fallen American troops who fought against tyranny.

Today amid the stillness, it is disquieting to imagine that above the cliffs of Omaha Beach, the Germans had at least 85 heavy weapons and machine guns trained on the beaches below that could rain down about 100,000 rounds per minute cutting our boys to ribbons.

Ernie Pyle, the Pulitzer Prize winning war correspondent for Scripps-Howard, was walking along the beach and noticed something in the sand.

“The strong swirling tides of the Normandy coast line shifted the contours of the sandy beach as they moved in and out. They carried soldier’s bodies out to sea, and later they returned them. They covered the corpses of heroes with sand, and then in their whims they uncovered them.”

“As I plowed out over the wet sand, I walked around what seemed to be a couple of pieces of driftwood sticking out of the sand. But they weren’t driftwood. They were a soldier’s two feet. He was completely covered except for his feet; the toes of his GI shoes pointed towards the land he had come so far to see, and which he saw so briefly.”

It has been 30 years since President Ronald Reagan commemorated the 60th anniversary of D-Day.  Following his speech at Point du Hoc, he spoke at the Omaha Beach Memorial to honor those who died there saying, “…We can only honor them by rededicating ourselves to the cause for which they gave a last full measure of devotion.”

“Today we do rededicate ourselves to that cause. And at this place of honor, we're humbled by the realization of how much so many gave to the cause of freedom and to their fellow man.”

President Stompy Feet will commemorate the 70th anniversary of D-Day amid his squabble with Putin.  In light of his disdain for America’s military albeit the VA scandal and the 5-for-1 trade of high-ranking Taliban commanders for a “warrior of Islam” deserter, I am glad that the brave heroes who are resting peacefully beneath those white headstones cannot see the dishonor this president has brought upon America or know the cowardice of the man who currently occupies the Oval Office.