ALBUM OF USMC DEFENSE DEPARTMENT PHOTOS,
PACIFIC WAR
depicting Marines on Tarawa, Kwajalein & elsewhere, belonging to a WWII Marine veteran.
A friend of mine in the Marine Corps Historical Center tells me that shortly after WWII,
someone, somehow, managed to have a great many 4x5 prints made of Defense Department and
Signal Corps photographs which he then sold to returning veterans. This album appears to
have been made up almost entirely of such photos, about a hundred of them, most of which
are of Marine Corps subjects. In addition, there are a small number of personal photos in
the back of the album, some ID'd, which appear to have been taken of, or by, the album
owner himself. These are mostly stateside shots of Marines in uniform, with a few family
shots as well. The album itself is 11x7, and is in fair to poor shape, the exterior having
been partially charred at one time. The photos themselves are in fair to very good
condition. About 25 of them have some discoloration, but except for two or three, the
discoloration is confined to the margins and does not affect the subject matter. All of
the photos are a bit wavy, but they are not brittle or faded, and none of them are glued
in. Artistically and technically, they are all superb, and clearly the work of professional
photographers, not amateur Marines. I recognize a few of them from
various histories of the Pacific War, but a number of them may be unpublished. About a
third of the photos have captions at the bottom, and nearly all of the captioned photos
are of scenes from Tarawa and Kwajalein. I have not been able to identify the location of
the remaining photos, except for one which we recognize as Marines going ashore on New
Britain. Usual subjects depicted are Marines in amphibious assault, Marines under fire,
blasted palms, burnt-out tanks and bunkers, Marine and Japanese dead (especially the latter),
burial ceremonies, wounded Marines, captured Japanese positions, Marines in sandbag dugouts,
Marines with Japanese souvenirs, and so forth...
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$300.00
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