Posted on 05/26/2012 7:46:49 AM PDT by Doogle
How it was 1945, on VJ Day. Kodachrome 16mm film. Honolulu.
(Excerpt) Read more at vimeo.com ...
My father was in a hospital in California recovering from wounds suffered while fighting on Okinawa in the US Marines, but he would have recovered in time to have taken part in the invasion, if it had come to that. He had no doubt that using the atomic bomb was the right thing to do.
Did Kodachromes at that time record sound?
I was wondering if the sounds of the people cheering and the airplanes flying overhead were edited-in.
*schruggs*
bump
I was about 10th in a long line of replacement infantry troops on Leyte the day a young Lt.(I was a couple of months away from being 19) came out of the equipment supply quanset hut and told us to go back to our tents as the shooting was over. As I recall the scuttlebutt was that our tent was being outfitted to go to Mindoro Island. Years later I was informed for certain that Mindoro was a staging place for the 96th Div. in preparation for the invasion of Japan. The 96th Div. had returned to the Philippines after combat on Okinawa. My only sibling brother had been killed on Okinawa serving with the 96th Div. The 96th Div. was cancelled from occupying duty in Japan and instead was chosen for service release. I spent several months on Leyte in an ordinance company. Ond from our camp on a knoll inthe middle of a rice paddy we could see several hundred yards across the paddy at least one Jap straggler in the mountains. Four of us got permission to go and get the Jap to give up. We never found the Jap but I did come back to camp with a big bunch of monkey bananas. There is much more to this story as well as at a later time when assigned to the Army Air Force in the Marianas to get my service time in. It was interesting and memorable to see the human remnants of the war there especially the burned out caves apparently by flame throwers.
I’m sorry about the loss of your brother.
Thank you for sharing that. You were one of the many who got a reprieve on life when the bombs were dropped on Japan.
My parents were older when they had me-—I’m in my 40s-—but I never get tired of hearing WWII stories from your generation. My parents are gone now, but I still feel the connection. God bless.
...that's what my short snorter looked like.
It's interesting to learn that the 'Screaming Eagles' have adopted this 'Zoomie' tradition.
My dad flew B-29's out of Guam, bombing oil refineries. He was on Northwest Field, Guam. Part of the 315th Heavy bombardment Group.
Did your dad pass on any short snorters to you? My cousin passed on his dad's short snorters with pride to his three sons, all of whom served in the US Military.
He did give us different things from his time in the Air Corps. Funny story... My dad had given my oldest brother, Art, his service .45. The firing pin had broken, but my brother was able to get a replacement. We took the .45 with some of dad's old ammunition to try out the weapon. Art put the ammunition into the clip and he took shots at rats at the local dump. The ammunition turned out to be tracer bullets. We don't know who was more surprised, us or the rats.
I still have dad's uniforms, both tropical and the green wool. Even an Eisenhower jacket.
Whoops... that’s short snorters.
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