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Old 08-16-2011, 09:58 AM
GatorFarmer GatorFarmer is offline
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Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box  
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Default Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box

This first one looks to have been taken in the Phillipines late in the war. This was my maternal grandfather. Looks like he is with the heavy mortars. He'd been demoted to Pfc and transferred to the mortar platoon as a punishment. He was demoted like that at least twice during the war. He made it as high as Master Sgt. but whenever he was in charge of folks, he tended to turn everyone loose to go get drunk whenever possible. Hence demotions and assignment to heavy weapons. Lugging heavy mortars around in the heat wasn't considered a fun job.

He also spent a stint as security element to the flamethrowers as they burned the Japanese out of caves. I think he volunteered for that to get away from the mortars and because he hated Japanese. His job was to stand ready with a Thompson and shoot anyone that came running out on fire. When I was a box he still talked about that, having enjoyed it. Did I mention that he really hated the Japanese?

Note the small pipe (probably of local make) at a jaunty angle and the captured Japanese flag.




I think is was on New Georgia or at the end of mopping up on Guadalcanal. Note the beard, that everyone is skinny, and the ragged uniforms. My grandfather had a similar beard in a photo that was on the cover of Yank magazine that was from the fighting in New Georgia, so I suspect this is from the same campaign.



All dressed up to go on liberty apparently? Note the Errol Flynn mustache.



WW1 Doughboy helmets... This apparently was taken in Hawaii shortly after Pearl Harbor. The fear was quite real of a Japanese invasion so newly arriving infantry formations assumed defensive positions. The leg bag probably held a gas mask?




I'm thinking that this has to be Hawaii again since he never served in the Phillipines prior to the liberation. Note the height difference between the soldiers and the locals and the then exotic coconut.





This last one was taken in Michigan after the end of hostilities and the return home. My mother dates it to Aug 1945, but contemporary newspapers showed my grandfather still in the PI as late as Jan of 1946. Thus I suspect that this is the Spring of 1946 if it was taken in MI. Note the Navy uniform that hadn't changed much until fairly recently on the relative that served in the Navy. If this was taken in August of '45, then it would have been in the PI.
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Old 08-16-2011, 10:15 AM
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Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box Some interesting WW2 photos that my mother found in a box  
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Really cool, thanks!
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Old 08-16-2011, 10:17 AM
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Very cool. Thanks for sharing those with us.
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Old 08-16-2011, 10:24 AM
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thank you for the pictures my grandfather on my dad's side served in the phillipines during ww2 he also served a tour of duty with the u.s. army occupation forces in japan.
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Old 08-16-2011, 11:43 AM
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I really enjoyed seeing those photo's. I hope you have copies of these as they will fade out over time. Don
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Old 08-16-2011, 07:24 PM
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Back in the early 70's I worked with two WW II pacific war vet's. One was part of the Batan death march and was a POW till the end of the war. The other one hated the Japanese so much that a photographer came to the shop and he flipped out till he got a close look and found out that the guy was not Japanese. The guy next door when I was growing up started out on Guadelcanal and was in the occupation force after the war the only time he ever talked to me about it was when I asked him about the type 94 pistol he had.
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Old 08-16-2011, 07:58 PM
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Thanks for posting these photos...an interesting look at history to be sure.

I had an uncle who was a Marine in the Pacific...he too hated the Japanese! Pearl Harbor was really a seminal event for the Greatest Generation.

I remember him telling me how he was staged on -- can't remember which now -- Okinawa or Iwo Jima, waiting for the upcoming invasion of Japan in the Fall of '45, and how they were all anticipating that it was going to be very rough indeed, and how relieved he was when Truman ordered the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and ended the war.
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Old 08-16-2011, 08:12 PM
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I think that I've shown these before, but that one is from the fighting on New Georgia. If memory serves, that is the image from the cover of Yank magazine (a wartime periodical). Or at least one of the ones from the story about the fighting. Note that the Army had a camo uniform in service at this point, but there were problems and complaints related to it, so it did not become standard.




There's a posed portrait from one of the periods between demotions. I do not know the approximate date on this one. I do remember my grandfather remarking that the best thing about getting the Sgt's stripes was that he could then finally get some unsweetened ice tea from the mess tent.
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Old 08-16-2011, 10:52 PM
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Wonderful, historic, photos. Take real good care of them, please. You're right, the gas mask could be worn slung from the shoulder or wrapped around the leg. Most soldiers apparently discarded them pretty soon.
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Old 08-16-2011, 11:06 PM
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Love the photo's. Take pride in his demotions, he sounds like a stand up guy. I have never been in the Military, but on the PD, usually the screw ups were the best cops.

Hopefully you can get them framed by someone who knows how to prevent damage from the elements.

Thanks so much for the post.
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Old 08-16-2011, 11:14 PM
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Great pictures. My Dad was stationed in the Phillipines late in the war. Being a farm kid, he had a little knowledge of heavy equipment so they placed him on a land mover of some type so he could help rebuild landing strips. He was also in the Solomon and Mariana Islands. His group was to be involved in the invasion of Japan but Truman saved the day. I miss him.
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