Into the Jaws of Death

A photograph by Robert F. Sargent showing U.S. soldiers wading ashore at Omaha Beach during the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944.

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Omaha Beach: A Normandy landing beach where U.S. forces came ashore on June 6, 1944. Sargent photographed soldiers wading through the water toward this heavily defended landing site.
Robert F. Sargent: A U.S. Coast Guard chief photographer’s mate who photographed the Normandy landings. He made the image while documenting the Omaha Beach assault on D-Day.
War photography: Photography made to document or interpret armed conflict and its effects. Sargent’s image is a combat photograph whose framing makes an assault legible as a scene.
D-Day in popular culture: The representation of the Normandy invasion in public memory, media, and popular art. Sargent’s photograph helped give the invasion a memorable visual form.
29th Infantry Division: A U.S. Army division that landed on Omaha Beach during the Normandy invasion. Its soldiers were among the troops shown advancing ashore in Sargent’s photograph.
Dwight D. Eisenhower: The Allied Supreme Commander who directed the invasion of Normandy. His command set in motion the operation captured in Sargent’s photograph.
Documentary photography: Photography intended to record people, places, or events as evidence or interpretation. The photograph preserves a specific event while its composition guides interpretation.
National Archives and Records Administration: The U.S. federal agency responsible for preserving and providing access to government records. Its holdings preserve the photograph as part of the official wartime record.
116th Infantry Regiment: A U.S. Army regiment that landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. Elements of the regiment appear among the soldiers landing in the photograph.
Omar Bradley: The U.S. general who commanded First Army during the Normandy landings. His forces included the troops assaulting Omaha Beach in the image.