D-Day + 65 years

[f4fwildcat]

As many of you know, and some of you might remember being there, or around the radio at home. Saturday was the 65th anniversary of the invasion of Normandy during WW2. Also known universally as D-Day. The overall commander of allied forces in the European Theater, was General Dwight D. Eisenhower. His hometown was Abilene, KS. Saturday, my son and I rose early and traveled to the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene, for a weekend commemoration of D-Day. It was also a salute to the troops and the former mentioned General and later president Eisenhower, Ike.

My son is in a WW2 re-enactment group depicting the US 4th Armored Division. Below are some of the images I captured that day. Along with a treat at the end. I hope you enjoy this series and above all, a heart felt thanks to the men that participated in what has been called the most significant 24 hours in the twentieth century.


The Fourth A.D. crossing a bridge during the parade.



The Germans. Note: the MG34 that the soldier is firing. Is a hand made reproduction, made by the the gentleman behind the trigger. This is a non-firing reproduction. Which means, the muzzle flash, smoke, ejecting casings and dirty faces, are all post production photo shop. No photographers were harmed in the making of this image.



Liberators ride into a Norman village! Actually the Sherman in the image was on a flatbed trailer. I used to build and detail models in my miss spent youth. I had a little fun detailing the M-4 Sherman in this image. It was perfectly clean and it had not been "tagged" by Kilroy.

Now for the treat. During World War Two. Millions of war bonds were sold to the people of the United States. These bonds matured over a period of time and could be cashed for more than one paid for them. This gave the U.S. Government ready cash with which to purchase the much needed war materials. After capturing the next image, I did a little tight cropping. After looking at the image for just a moment, a light went on and I started playing with buttons in Photo Shop.



Hope you have enjoyed this first installment. If you want more, check my flickr page.

Thanks

[FromtheBackofaHorse]

What a wonderful series to remember this event. Now, off to your flickr to see more!

[f4fwildcat]

Originally Posted by FromtheBackofaHorse

What a wonderful series to remember this event. Now, off to your flickr to see more!

Thanks! It was a great day and a great day to remember!

[bethard728]

Wow! The 2nd one is amazing! Great job!

[Fred flyfisher]

What a great way to remember the event that day and the event that is remembered. We owe such a debt of gratitude to the men and women who serve and have served in the armed forces. Great work on these Tom. Love the PP on all of them.

[f4fwildcat]

Originally Posted by bethard728

Wow! The 2nd one is amazing! Great job!

Thanks, I was really happy with the way the image turned out.

Originally Posted by Fred flyfisher

What a great way to remember the event that day and the event that is remembered. We owe such a debt of gratitude to the men and women who serve and have served in the armed forces. Great work on these Tom. Love the PP on all of them.

Thanks Fred, and your right. Freedom isn't free.

[Sheriliz]

Thank you for the reminder and the wonderful photo's. My Great Uncle was there.

[paulq]

The second picture is so cool! I love how you did PP with that. Nice set of picture friend!

[Jim Bryant]

GOOD work! I love to shoot reenactments!

[f4fwildcat]

Originally Posted by Sheriliz

Thank you for the reminder and the wonderful photo's. My Great Uncle was there.

My many thanks to your Great Uncle.

Originally Posted by paulq

The second picture is so cool! I love how you did PP with that. Nice set of picture friend!

Thanks! I had a lot of fun, and I was really happy with the finished product. Thanks again.

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

GOOD work! I love to shoot reenactments!

Thanks Jim. This was my first with a DSLR. My son has been a civil war re-enactor since about 03. He now does both civil war and WW2. The History Channel is "must watch TV" in our home.