Q: A recent AJC story told of thousands of Allied and German deaths at Normandy. What was the German death count on D-Day, although many of the soldiers were not German, but conscripts from other countries?
—Bob Sullivan, Canton
A: Historians struggle to attach a figure on the number of German casualties on D-Day on June 6, 1944. The D-Day Museum in Portsmouth, England, has placed the figure from anywhere between 4,000 and 9,000. Fritz Kirchmeier, a spokesman with a German organization that cares for 80,000 graves for German soldiers in Normandy, told The Associated Press that many German records were destroyed when the Allies bombed Berlin during the war. He also told the AP that "bones and skeletons" of soldiers are unearthed "fairly often" during construction projects in the area. The D-Day Museum said that 425,000 soldiers on both sides were killed, wounded or went missing during the battles for Normandy over the next three months.
Q: There was a picture of I’ll Have Another jockey Mario Gutierrez on top of the Empire State Building. There is what seems to be just a very low concrete wall behind where he’s standing, but no mesh or other safety barriers are visible. Is it possible that he was in another area that is not accessible to tourists?
—Renee VanderBoom, Norcross
A: That photo of Gutierrez was taken in the VIP viewing area on the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building. It is not open to the general public. The two public observatories are on the 86th and the 102nd floors.
Andy Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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