X

D-Day: 70 years later (pictures)

Seven decades after the Invasion of Europe, little remains of Hitler's Atlantic Wall. Instead, monuments to the bravery of Allied soldiers stand tall. Here's a photo tour of Omaha and Utah beaches and the American Cemetery at Normandy, 70 years after D-Day.

headshots_Geoffrey_Morrison_140x100.jpg
headshots_Geoffrey_Morrison_140x100.jpg
Geoffrey Morrison
img4931.jpg
1 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Utah Beach

Though Utah Beach didn't have the same intensity of fighting as Omaha (which I visited next), there were still 450 casualties from the 23,250 men who landed there.

Read the full article: D-Day: 70th anniversary in pictures

img4909.jpg
2 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Soldiers look onto Utah Beach

There were lots of men and women in uniform. This shot wasn't staged -- these two men were just standing there, looking out on the beaches (to their left) and the Utah memorial (directly ahead).

img4915.jpg
3 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Monuments

One of the many monuments to specific brigades or divisions along the beaches.

img4925.jpg
4 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Musee

Dozens of museums dot the landscape of Normandy. You could spend weeks here and still not see everything, I think.

img4930.jpg
5 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Tank and obstacle

Cleared from the beaches long ago, many of the beach obstacles live on elsewhere, as a reminder. This tank faces inland, its back to the beach.

img4933.jpg
6 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Utah Beach - east

Facing roughly eastward down Utah Beach.

img4934.jpg
7 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Utah Beach - museum

The view from the sea, headed inland. The curved building is the back of the Utah Beach museum.

img4935.jpg
8 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Utah Beach - west

Looking northwest along Utah Beach.

img4951.jpg
9 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Jeep

There were hundreds of Jeeps and other military vehicles all over the area, many giving rides.

img4960.jpg
10 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Ambulance

An immaculate WWII ambulance. No rust. This can't live here, right?

img4961.jpg
11 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Army truck

An Army truck of...some kind. My WWII vehicle knowledge is more plane-based. Anyone?

img4966.jpg
12 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Omaha Memorial

Heading down the coast, the next beach area was known as Omaha. Easily the biggest battle of the day, with 3,600 Allied casualties, more than 1 in 10 of the 34,250 soldiers who landed that day.

img4968.jpg
13 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Les Braves

The striking Les Braves monument.

img4983.jpg
14 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Rainbow

Thanks to the on-and-off rain, a rainbow appeared right as I was taking these pictures.

img4984.jpg
15 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Les Braves, looking east

Looking down towards the main assault areas.

img4993.jpg
16 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Omaha houses

Now, you can buy a house right on Omaha Beach. I wonder how much the owners know of the war and this beach's importance.

img4998.jpg
17 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Up the hill

This was one of the few ways off the section of beach known as Easy Red, and one of the first cleared. Also one of the rare intact casemates.

img5000.jpg
18 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Casemate

Interestingly, a rusted out gun is still here, sitting in stagnant water.

img5005.jpg
19 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Omaha - Fox Green

This is the big hill overlooking what I believe was the section called Fox Green, one of several monuments. What thoughts does that gentleman have, reading the names inscribed?

img5007.jpg
20 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Fox Green

This is the view from one of the casemates overlooking Omaha Beach.

img5008.jpg
21 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Omaha, eastward

Looking east toward Fox Red.

img5009.jpg
22 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Emplacement

The remains of a gun emplacement.

img5010.jpg
23 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Casemate

One of a handful of casemates that are slowly falling apart.

img5014.jpg
24 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

From inside

Dirt has largely filled in the entranceway, but you can still enter in a crouch. This is the view looking out.

img5015.jpg
25 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

More trucks on the beach

These gents were racing, I think.

img5016.jpg
26 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Major casemate

One of two larger casemates, you can walk into the main section where the gun once was.

img5018.jpg
27 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Casemate interior

Not much to look at now. Standing water, mud, even some graffiti.

img5030.jpg
28 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Sun setting

The second major casemate, the top is home to another monument (which possibly has been damaged, as it was wrapped in plastic).

img5034.jpg
29 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Casemate interior no. 2

The view is roughly westward. Note the tracks on the floor, where I believe the gun turret would have swiveled.

img5035.jpg
30 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Casemate interior ceiling

Rusty, yet still standing after all these years.

img5040.jpg
31 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Jeep at sunset

The rays of the setting sun frame this Jeep nicely. The sun sets at 10pm this time of year.

img5063.jpg
32 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Tracks in the sand

The remains of some spirited beach driving.

img5067.jpg
33 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Morning

I came back the next morning. This picture was taken 6:30am, the same time the first Higgins boats were hitting the beach, 70 years earlier. Notice how light it is already.

img5068.jpg
34 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Cliffs after dawn

Looking westward, towards Pointe du Hoc.

img5069.jpg
35 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Hill from the water

A view similar to what the soldiers tasked with taking Fox Green would have seen, plus 70 years of foliage.

img5070.jpg
36 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Looking east

Fox Red's slightly less daunting task.

img5076.jpg
37 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

A sight not unlike this

Looking up the hill toward the remains of the German casemates, from the water.

img5079.jpg
38 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Prefab concete

These are one of the only remains of anything on the beaches from those days. I believe they're prefab concrete blocks meant as a base for the temporary docks they built after the beaches were cleared.

img5094.jpg
39 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Memorial

At the entrance end of the cemetery is this stone half-circle memorial, with the "The Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves"statue in the center.

img5097.jpg
40 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Alcoves

To the sides of the main monument, huge maps diagram the invasion of Normandy and Europe at large.

img5101.jpg
41 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Normandy invasion

It took my brain a second to comprehend, as the map is flipped (to me, anyway).

img5102.jpg
42 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Operation Neptune

Again, the map is flipped around, but here you can see the boats that were involved in the beach landings.

img5103.jpg
43 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Deserved

All throughout the cemetery, WWII veterans were followed by groups of all ages. Pictures taken, autographs signed, hands shaken, these men were treated like rock stars. (I even overheard one of them saying so.)

As it should be.

img5104.jpg
44 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Stage set

For the official presentations, this set is erected in front of the main monument. Look at all the seats.

img5110.jpg
45 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Crosses and stars of white

Humbling.

img5111.jpg
46 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Tom Brokaw

Tom Brokaw was here for NBC News, interviewing many of the veterans who had returned for the 70th anniversary observance.

img5117.jpg
47 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Chapel

In the center of the cemetery is this small, round chapel. Around it are benches where several veterans were sitting, talking to small groups of people, signing autographs, and having their pictures taken.

img5122.jpg
48 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Kilometers of chairs

The stage is somewhere in the distance. There's going to be a lot of people here, as there should be.

img5131.jpg
49 of 49 Geoffrey Morrison

Rows and rows and rows

9,387 buried here, out of over 407,000 Americans and 16 million total dead for Allies.

Read the full article: D-Day: 70th anniversary in pictures

More Galleries

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features and Settings on Your iPhone
Invitation for the Apple September iPhone 15 event

17 Hidden iOS 17 Features and Settings on Your iPhone

18 Photos
Take a Look at Apple's iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro: New Colors, Prices and More
iphone 15 in different color from an angled view

Take a Look at Apple's iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro: New Colors, Prices and More

19 Photos
I Got an Early Look at Intel's Glass Packaging Tech for Faster Chips
Rahul Manepalli, right, Intel's module engineering leader, shows a glass substrate panel before it's sliced into the small rectangles that will be bonded to the undersides of hundreds of test processors. The technology, shown here at Intel's CH8 facility in Chandler, Arizona, stands to improve performance and power consumption of advanced processors arriving later this decade. Glass substrates should permit physically larger processors comprised of several small "chiplets" for AI and data center work, but Intel expects they'll trickle down to PCs, too.

I Got an Early Look at Intel's Glass Packaging Tech for Faster Chips

20 Photos
Astronomy Photographer of the Year Winners Reveal Our Stunning Universe
andromeda

Astronomy Photographer of the Year Winners Reveal Our Stunning Universe

16 Photos
Check Out the iPhone 15's New Camera in Action
A photo of a silhouette of buildings on the water taken on the iPhone 15

Check Out the iPhone 15's New Camera in Action

12 Photos
Take a Closer Look at the iOS Settings You Should Change Right Now
A smart man holding an iPhone 14 Pro Max

Take a Closer Look at the iOS Settings You Should Change Right Now

10 Photos
Disney Treasure Cruise Ship: Bookings Now Open for $9K+ Maiden Voyage
disney-treasure-tomorrow-tower-suite-3

Disney Treasure Cruise Ship: Bookings Now Open for $9K+ Maiden Voyage

16 Photos