Christmas 1944

Christmas Day with 3rd ID photographers in Ribeauville, France.

Today in 1944

The start of the Battle of the Bulge, a bloody surprise German counterattack that lasted a month in one of the worst winters in European history. Incidentally it's cold and snowy and icy here now.

Today in WWII

American infantrymen seek shelter from German shells in the town of Geich, Germany. December 11, 1944.

This Day On...

Dec. 10, 1943. Tokorina Airfield, Pacific Theater.

Rhine Evacuation

You don't see something like this everyday. I was looking around on a website called etsy.com (girly site with lots of vintage and handmade stuff) and came across a grouping of photos for sale which I can only guess were taken by a Glider Pilot. They included several photos of CG4A's and AAF personnel. The most interesting photo is one of a bunch of guys loading up in a truck, which is being taken back over the Rhine, presumable after Varsity as the caption states. Judging by the caption and the gear I'm guessing these are a group of GP's being taken back to the rear after making their landings.



First aid packet on helmet, lots of carbine and .45 ammo pouches, .45 holster, a Thompson barrel, M43's...if I didn't know any better I'd say GP's for sure.

Now What?

The question on my mind as of late.

The Other Flag Raising

Hoisting the Confederate Flag on an Okinawan Beach. April 4, 1945

RIP Tony Curtis

Long before Tony Curtis became a gay icon known for his cross-dressing onscreen with Marilyn Monroe and of course, "Spartacus," (and also for being the father of Jamie Lee Curtis), he was Bernard Schwartz, a Jewish kid from New York City. At 17 he joined the Navy, and he wanted to be a submariner.


Bernard Schwartz, 1943.

He was assigned to be a tender to submarines on Guam, where he would scrape off the barnacles and clean the sub up when it came back from war patrol. Dirty work for sure, but Curtis never qualified for permanent duty aboard a sub. He was however onboard the USS Proteus when she steamed for the Japanese submarine base at Yokosuka where he witnessed the historic signing of the famous Document of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri.



He was standing on the signal bridge and actually got to witness the formal surrender of the Japanese, thus closing WWII into history.

He died in his home in Las Vegas Sept. 29, 2010.

Verona, Italy

He needs to get rid of that farby Luger holster.

Shaved Heads

Medic With a Gun

509th Parachute Infantry Battalion medic with .45.

Posed or for real?

Dirty Jobs

For most of us, the glory of the WWII front line soldier attacking his way through the impossible German lines is what we associate with heroics. A lot of people don't understand that for every combat soldier, there were 1.7 (or 2, why not?) people who served in non-combat roles to back that soldier up. These included non-combatants, engineers, medics, CP staff, quartermasters, maintenance, drivers, etc. They are the unsung soldiers of WWII that may not have gotten the "glory" that the combat soldier did, but played just as much of an important part to win the war.


Corporal Max Shepherd, Jeep driver for an officer named "Barney." His speedometer was 24,591 miles when he turned it in at the end of the war.


Graves Registration team. They identified the bodies on the battlefield.


Sgt. Vern Kurtanbauch, from Brandt, S. Dakota, the S-1 clerk for the Service Co., 355th Inf., 89th Inf. Div, sets up shop as the Red and Blue Armies maneuver at Camp Carson, Co.


Jim Baskerville of the 191st Signal Repair Co. They repaired radios, phones, and other Signal Corps equipment in the CBI theater.


103rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 28th Infantry Division in Europe during WWII.


USAAF ground crew loading an extra gas tank on a P-51D for the 332nd Fighter Group in Italy.

Lucy and Desi

Long before "I Love Lucy," Desi Arnaz was a Sergeant in the Army during WWII. He was not fit for overseas duty due to a knee injury, but nonetheless worked in the American Theater, primarily the USO, organizing events and shows for the returning Pacific Theater soldiers. His most famous contribution was when he learned that the most-often first request of returning GI's was a glass of milk (though I don't know why, after being in the heat of the Pacific for months and years milk sounds disgusting). He organized glasses of milk to be distributed to all returning vets.


Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, California, 1945.

He as also played scout "Felix Ramirez" in the wartime propaganda film, "Bataan."



He met Lucille Ball, a then-B-movie actress and pin-up model, before he was drafted.



They got a divorce in 1945, but reconciled shortly thereafter, only to become the most successful husband/wife comedy act in history. Arnaz died in 1986 at the age of 69.

Too Young

Not all deaths in WWII were combat-related or remotely war-related at all. First Lieutenant Herbert G. Johns was only 26 when he was diagnosed with leukemia. He was a Flight Control Officer for the 9th Air Force Troop Carrier Command, and shortly after the war in Europe's end he passed away in Newfoundland, trying to get back to the States from where he was stationed in France. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington Cemetery.



Keep 'em flyin', Herb.

Hoping For No Gusts Of Wind

PFC WL Raines, 3rd Infantry Division.

Stolen From Science Class?

3rd ID, 30th IR members and friend.

Woody In The Army

Woody Guthrie, perhaps one of the most well-known American folk singers of all time, was no fan of the Axis. Prior to World War II, when he performed with the Almanac Singers, he wrote mostly peace songs. All that changed when he heard of Germany invading Russia, and afterwards he scrawled the famous phrase on his guitar, "This Machine Kills Fascists." Although he had communist/socialist political leanings, he nevertheless insisted they include him in the USO to perform for the troops. He was rejected, and instead joined the Merchant Marine to avoid the draft. He carried his guitar aboard and entertained the men on the ship and when they went in port.


Woody Guthrie in the Merchant Marine, 1943.

Without fail, each time he was aboard a ship they were torpedoed for a total of 3 times. After 2 years he was thrown out of the Merchant Marines and labeled a communist. Much to his chagrin, he was drafted into the Army only 2 months before the surrender of Germany. When the war with Japan ended, he was discharged in November of '45.


Woody in the Army, 1945.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The Mosquito Fleet

An unsung part of WWII naval history is the role the PT boats played. Basically there to harass the Japanese and hunt subs, PT boat crews were home to 12-15 men on an 80-foot-long wooden boat. They carried torpedoes, depth charges, and 50mm and 20mm machine guns. They were dirty, non-regulation squids that were WWII's equivalent to pirates.



Crew of PT-190 in the South Pacific. The broom signifies a successful mission.

Class A's My Ass (Reenactor Rant)

Leonard Wayne McIntosh & Walter Keegan.

It's photos of this sort that I love. Photos like this drive reenactors crazy, namely for the fact that they can't comprehend a couple of dirty ol' GI's. They tend to do everything "by the book" and study their technical manuals as if all (if any) regulations were followed 100% of the time so as not to be out of the "norm." They don't get the civilian mindset these guys were in and how most wanted as little to do with the military way of life as possible. Reenactors that served in the Armed Forces in the 80's and 90's when there was no war and it was all very spit n' polish can't live without a regulation for everything.

Condescending former BDU army PFCs that reenact WWII can stay the hell away from me. Chances are I don't want to talk to your "I spent $10,000 on my impression because I'm trying to relive my old army days when I could still get it up" ass.

The Frenchy and The Wop

Sylvan Lucier (L) and Tony Collacino (R).

God bless those damned Glider Pilots!

Rock of the Marne

A S/Sgt. from the 10 Engineer Battalion/3rd Infantry Division on a Type III Harley-Davidson WLA. Somewhere in France, February 10th, 1945.

Gene's Gal

This is a picture I found in my grandpa's slides. I assume they were an item, from the numerous photos of them. Not bad lookin'.

Dirty Sons of Bitches

9th Infantry Division.

Strange Portrait

This is a studio portrait from 1946. I'm guessing all the insignia were props, because none of it is regulation. From the research I've done, he was an enlisted man. I guess they really just loved the officer's "US" insignia there.

Home Movies

This is a home movie shot during the war of the 552nd Ordnance Tank Repair Co. in 1944-45. I'm glad so many guys had the foresight to record what was going on.

Jacket Array

(L-R) T/4 Neil Long, F/O Laurence Moyer, 1LT Norman Wilmeth, 2LT William Faskin, F/O Leon Roonds.

Relaxed Fit

My favorite period of Class "A" uniforms of the US Army was late-war and post-war. Most photographs I've seen during the occupation of Germany and Japan show men done with the fighting and waiting it out to get the hell home. Because the war was over and the celebrating had since ceased, soldiers were already getting back to the civilian mindset, as most during WWII were not career military men. Because of this, uniforms started to get relaxed. Ties were stopped being worn when possible and collars would be flared out over the jackets, pants got non-regulation cuffs (the style at the time), and jackets were thrown on and unbuttoned when worn or not worn at all.

Many photos of the time show guys during the occupation as goofing around and seeing the sights, still in the military but trying to act more like they were home, and generally over the whole thing and not really caring anymore. Here are some great photographs that show the soldiers, sick and tired of being overseas, trying to get back to some normalcy.


S/Sgt. Christopher Garney of Oklahoma. Austria, 1945.


PFC Charles K McGrane. Germany, 1945.


John Schaffner. Germany, 1945.


Vernon H. Brown and Jim Minn. Soyen, Germany, 1945.


Thomas Buettner. Munich, Germany, 1945.


Winters and Lewis Owen. Oberammergau, Germany,1946.


William Jackson. Schweinfurt, Germany, 1946.

Derailed (A bit how I'm feeling lately.)

Officers with musette bags in front of a derailed troop train in Piqua, Ohio. May 21, 1945.

One man killed, T/Sgt Jerrell H. Adamson of Oklahoma. He had successfully flown 35 missions over Europe and was on his way home.

Pacific Army

The Pacific Theater of Operations was not all Marines and Navy. The Army was there too...


25th Infantry Division on Guadalcanal.


Dead Japanese on Leyte.


25th ID on Luzon, 1945.

Two MPs

Aside from the whole "having to be an asshole" part, I wouldn't mind riding around on one of these babies.

Field Desks in Italy

African-American clerks in a Greek and/or Roman structure. Italy '43.

Kodachrome

So, my mom went to visit my Aunt in Virginny and gave her a box of stuff to take to me. To my surprise, it was one of my Grandpa's 4-pocket tunics and whole carousel of Kodachrome slides he took.

My grandpa must have had a hell of a lot of foresight to take photos in the novelty of color.

Here's a few previews, until I get a good camera. These are projections on the wall I took photos of, so the color and sharpness of the pictures do the real thing no justice.


Aviation student, 1943.


Grandpa in the cockpit of a Waco CG4A glider.


Hangar being built. All those footlockers...


Glider maneuvers stateside. I would be biting the hell out of my nails watching that controlled disaster.