When American troops landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, Life Magazine photojournalist Robert Capa landed with them.
He took three rolls of film, but only 11 frames developed properly. The one this cinquain is based on shows a helmeted soldier just as he has completed his swim to shore.
Because of German obstacles, landing boats could only get within 50 to 100 yards of shore. Many soldiers died in the rough seas before they ever reached shore, and many more died crawling the next couple hundred yards in the sand. Bloody Omaha is what the beach is now known as because of the 2200 casualties suffered.
Capa insisted on being as close to his subjects as possible to capture the true feel of battle. This photo is taken close up and from eye level, giving it an immediacy that made Capa the most famous photojournalist of WWII. His photography certainly qualifies as art as well as historic artifact. Google Robert Capa Omaha Beach to see this and the other ten photos. The photo I've used is of soldiers' graves at Omaha Beach today.

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