D-Day, H-Hour

Today, I found myself walking down to the beach to watch the sunset (my custom in the evenings), and I realised how historical my feelings were. 60 years ago today, men younger than me were slogging head-first into gun fire that had been pre-sighted for months, on Normandy beaches code-named Gold, Juno, Sword, Omaha, and Utah. I've always had trouble in walking through sand, and I can imagine how much trouble someone would have doing it in combat boots, but to try and do such a thing with nothing but dead comrades behind and a potential slaughterhouse in front... I'm not sure I'd be able to do it. One of the most important offensives of the 20th century. Jeez. We owe them a lot. But we also owe all the other men and women who have fought so bravely to defend our Union... So it's days like this when I am especially mindful not only of the current administration's more-than-willing use of dead soldiers and civilians to further its reelection, but also of the adamant refusal to allow news of the dead to reach home. Go figure. Maybe if they had to put their asses on the line, too, they'd have different feelings.

The pier 

I took a few pics today from my camera phone. This spot, or rather the beacon at the end of the pier, is where I like to go in the evenings to watch the sun set. Good times, I tell you. 

To recap, these are from a series of black-and-white photos I took during the protests in Chicago after the war in Iraq started. 

More marching 

Marrrrrrching 

Marching 

These are from the big march down Lake Shore Drive. I'm glad I can look back on that, and eventually tell my kids, "Yeah, I did that. I was there. I made a difference." I also won some awards for these photos, so hey, that's a plus, too. 

No, we haven't. We're just as pissed about it as you are, but apparently our President got a little mixed up. 

Here he is again. 

More marching. 

I talked to the guy in the BDUs in the center. He's not actually -IN- the military, but he wanted to dress up. He supports President Bush all the way, he says, and I ask him if he supports the troops, too, and he gets mad at me. I'm guessing that he thinks they are one and the same. It's understandable for some people, but really. 

The pro-war people did a pledge of allegiance. I figured it was a given. 

, 

Apparently this guy on the left is really famous, but I didn't know who he was. 

The cop to the frat boy: "I really appreciate what you guys are doing out here." 

Gotta love it. Harleys + American Flags = Loud Engines = American Pseudo-Nationalism = Strrrraaaange 

A pup at the pro-war protest, I think he's used to his owner staying near the armchair (general). 

Love the "Stop" crosswalk sign in the upper-left. 

This photo would have been GREAT if it hadn't been for the over-exposure and that stupid head in the foreground. Oh, I might as well mention this now, all photos on this blog except those used in the template design are copyright 2002-2004 Phillip A. Lamb. Any unauthorized reproduction will be met with prosecution.  

I -LOVE- this photo. One of the best I took during the whole thing. There's my photo ed Cas on the right, past the guy with the beanie.  

Grand Canyon. See below. No pun intended. 

This series of two photos was really action-oriented, lots of fun to shoot. This guy was being disruptive (I don't remember exactly what he was doing), and when the cops came to remove him, they had to drag him, and so the guy in the hat there in the left background was screaming, "Hey, you press! Take pictures! Take pictures!" So I did. And was treated to amazing views of the Grand Canyon. 

There was a huge barricade set between the pro-war protesters (yeah, it's silly, and it's kind of a contradiction in terms, but they didn't seem to notice) and the anti-war protesters. Shouting matches ensued, etc, etc, but there was a no-man's-land between two lines of CPD. I didn't know this at first, and hoo boy, did I get screamed at. First rule of photographing protests: Always listen to the people in riot gear. And stay away from their horses (more on that later). Oh, and the girl with the blue bandana is a cutie, I thought :-p 

What follows is a series of photos I took during the protests when we went to war with Iraq. Some of these aren't the greatest, but I like 'em anyway and you're just going to have to deal with it. :-P 

Everybody else has a picture of their cat, so now I've got one.