Once Capa stepped into the surf, he seems to have completely forgotten about the battle on shore. Each and every shot was angled at least partly — if not entirely — seaward. This tells me that he was primarily looking for a means to depart. Capa’s picture-taking stopped almost immediately upon LCI(L)-94 showing up in his viewfinder. Which suggests that he’d seen his means of escape and was moving to get aboard. […]
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At this point there remains just one aspect of Capa’s D-Day adventure left to examine: his departure from Omaha Beach aboard LCI(L)-94 (which stands for Landing Craft Infantry (Large)-94). Let’s see how his description of this phase of his adventure stands up to scrutiny. […] So when did Capa board LCI(L)-94? I believe it was at the end of the ship’s first beaching, before it shifted 100 yards down the beach. But that would have been a far less dramatic tale, so he crafted a hodge-podge story based on details he later observed around the ship and inserted himself into it. […] Capa had transferred from LCI(L)-94 to the attack transport ship USS Samuel Chase (APA-26), and there he took at least one photo of LCI(L)-85 as it was moored alongside the Chase, transferring off wounded shortly before it sank. It seems Capa appropriated events that he had seen others experience, and wove them into his own story as though they had happened to him. […] Hiding in the surf behind the disabled assault vehicle as Capa did represented just one option at that juncture. The battle had already begun to move off the beach and up the ridge; Capa could have followed the action and gone along. After all, that’s why LIFE had given him this highly coveted front seat. […] |
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