WWII MEMORIAL: Jewel of the Mall

War of Our Fathers

  
In 1990, Richard Marin, an incredibly talented photographer and Stephen Ambrose, the famed historian and writer, traveled the Pacific documenting wrecks in the jungle, in the sea.... the tunnels in Corregidor, etc....  The resulting book "War of Our Fathers" was financed by Kodak's Ray DeMoulin a generous patron of the photographic arts (which Kodak used to be) sponsored not only this project but others like "Odyssey:  The Art of Photography at the Geographic", "Indelible Images:  One Hundred Years of War Photography and Richard Avedon's retrospective.  The photographs are done in a mixture of infrared and it looks to me like Kodachome.  If you are looking to buy a special gift this season, I've seen the book as low as $38.00 early December 2009 and last Summer got four copies from $3.00 to $7.00 but that was "a bargain."  If you are vaguely interested in WWII or photography, this book is something you should see.  I'd also like to mention Lance Akers of Minnesota and North Dakota fund raising fame for mentioning the book to me.  Lance is out there doing good....which seems to define a lot the Honor Flight/Air group.

800 Veterans and eleven hubs

And so if you were wondering where I've been in the past few weeks, I've been working on my latest book on DC and saving my energy up for today when 800 veterans plus guardians...a total of probably 1200 plus assorted military personnel, motorcycle police and riding groups, mounted police, guardians, school kids and relatives all gathered at the Memorial today.  It wasn't quite Woodstock but it was close and as Honor Flight has become more well known, the number of folks who come out to greet the veterans is larger and today's beautiful weather brought out EVERYONE.  

I am looking forward to the rest of the Honor Flight season as the book is on deadline.  The photos from today are at the Honor Flight Photo website.  As you can see from the contact sheet below, it was a great day for photography, family and celebration of our heroes.  It was just announced that there will be a plaque honoring Senator Dole put on the Memorial.  To say that it's well deserved is to understate the case.  

 
 

Going...going...gone

"Jewel of the Mall" is out of stock for quantity purchases until January/February 2009. I have kept a few hundred to fulfill signed orders for the holidays. The new edition will have a few new pictures, sewn seams for a better binding and better quality paper stock. 

Prints from the book are always available and the site will remain online so that you can still preview the Memorial in its finest light. I will continue documenting the Memorial and the Honor Flight operation and am looking forward to having a couple of photo volunteers join me this Saturday.

I got a nice note from Rebecca Seward from Colorado which I would like to share with all of you who have volunteered for Honor Flight. It sums up the reasons we all have for working with Honor Flight.  She said:

"As I am sure you have known for a long time doing anything with these. WWII veterans is an honor and priviledge.  My Dad served in the. Phillippines. He would have loved the. Memorial but it was not finished before he passed.  It is so special to be able to be a part of experiencing it with other veterans.  Many of the veterans on our honor flights of. Sept 23-24 have called and written to tell us how much they love your book and sharing it with their families and friends.  Thank you.  See you again in. April. -Becky. Seward." 

Memorabilia

John Anderson of Canton, Ohio had a very elaborate book of photos, news articles and personalities that he had encountered during his time in Europe...including a spell at the Battle of the Bulge. It was beautifully done and the kind of piece that the Library of Congress is beginning to collect.  If you know any veterans who are anxious to donate letters and memorbilia, contact the Library of Congress, "American Memory" project.

Ranger Miriam Hornstein was showing me these discharge papers she found at the Memorial today. They are collected and catalogued by the Park Service and turned over to the LIbrary of Congress.  

Today's photos are available at the Photo Site.

Photographer?

Photographers played their part in WWII and made a treasure trove of beautiful and moving historic images. The first person to find the location of the cameraman on the bas reliefs (he's using a Speed Graphic) gets a free book.  There are I believe 255 figures in the bas reliefs along the North and South entry walls. It's worth spending a couple of hours just looking through this intricately crafted history of the war.  Each bas relief started with a sketch which was scrutinized for historical accuracy and I chronicled their manufacture in the book.  The sketches cover war, support for the war on the home front, battles, services, skirmishes, manufacture, etc.... You can enter by making a comment in the comments field below this post.