A visit to the vast World War II cemetery at Omaha Beach is a moving, sobering, and thoughtful experience. It’s 72 emerald green acres, holding 10,000 dead –is a sight both terrible, yet utterly peaceful. Everything is done to honor the memory of those who rest here, including grass cutting done with military precision. Perhaps the most poignant moment of all came when the buzz of the mowers stopped and the maintenance personnel slipped quietly away to take their rest in respect and silence. The left their numbered military mowers precisely aligned with the first grave in each row.

To express what I considered to be the essence of this vast burial ground, I chose to photograph just two of those lawn mowers, each silently guarding a row of eleven graves. I, too, was once a soldier, many, many years ago. And if I listened hard enough to my memory, I could almost hear a sergeant barking the military command “at ease”.