I have come to believe that Capa’s actions on D-Day resulted from considered planning and calculated risks. He knew that he would have only a short time on the beach. He knew that he had to get back quickly to some ship — preferably the Chase, but if not another — in the convoy scheduled to depart at noon for the English coast. That represented his only hope of getting his films to LIFE on time. […]
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So when Capa clambered onto LCI(L)-94, it wasn’t a result of knowing it would get him back to the Chase. It was simply his best chance to get off the beach quickly with his films. Lt. Gislason recognized Capa’s name and understood the importance of his films and his assignment for LIFE. So they flagged down one of the Chase‘s returning LCVPs that they encountered on the return trip. […] This would seem to prove definitively that Capa’s account of his boarding of LCI(L)-94 is not accurate. There simply wasn’t time for him to go to the engine room, thoroughly dry off, smoke a couple of cigarettes, pick off all the kapok debris, change film (maybe?) and regain his composure in time to go back above decks and start taking pictures just off the beach. […] Between Charles Hangsterfer inaccurately placing his D-Day landing time at least an hour too early — an extremely common tendency in later oral histories — and his assertion that he saw Capa still behind a tank on the beach, his story has helped distort and confuse the Capa timeline. […] |
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