http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219584/Ghosts-war-Artist-superimposes-World-War-II-photographs-modern-pictures-street-scenes.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219584/Ghosts-war-Artist-superimposes-World-War-II-photographs-modern-pictures-street-scenes.html)
This is a pretty neat project. One time (one of the many many) times Ive been to Arlington I took a book about the history if Arlington and it was neat to look at photos taken of the property during the civil war and then go to that exact spot. This would be wild to have walking around France.
Thank you for sharing that
The article said she had over 100 negatives. I hope there are more to come.
Actually, search the photigraphers name and several more come up. Neat!!!
Like.
That's really awesome. I would love to see some of the old photos from my old unit superimposed from WWII. The 506 has more photos than you can shake a stick at, and a lot of them are awesome. It would be interesting if you could do the same thing to photos from Vietnam and Korea, the only problem is very obviously, wooded terrain changes so much it wouldn't look right. But would still be cool.
I hope I'm still alive and sane enough to see that done with pictures from Iraq.
This is amazing!
Quote from: manfredvonrichthofen on October 19, 2012, 12:27:03 PM
That's really awesome. I would love to see some of the old photos from my old unit superimposed from WWII. The 506 has more photos than you can shake a stick at, and a lot of them are awesome. It would be interesting if you could do the same thing to photos from Vietnam and Korea, the only problem is very obviously, wooded terrain changes so much it wouldn't look right. But would still be cool.
I hope I'm still alive and sane enough to see that done with pictures from Iraq.
My grandfather was with the 3rd/504th 82nd Airborne from April 1943-June 1945 and served in every operation. Normandy, St. Mere Eglise, Anzio, Battle of the Bulge and was one of the few who survived the crossing of the Waal River. He had 3 combat stars on his jump wings, his CIB, 2 BSM's and 3 PH's. And got out a PFC ;D (He had some issues with authority from what I gather ;D) My father was in the 101st in Vietnam and his brother (my uncle) retired out of the 82nd as a 1st Sgt and Jump Master
I offer his bio to say this..... I loved my time in the Marines. However because of a falling out between my dad and his father years before I was born I didnt meet him until I was already in the Marines and took it upon myself to go visit him. I hear stories off and on, but I think that had I known the tremendous history he had in the paratroopers, it would have been pretty awesome to try and end up in the same units.
I have his entire military records. The wild thing is, he was in the Army from 1939-1945. He was in straight combat through the entire duration of the US participation, and it ended with the invasion of Berlin. After the invasion, according to his records, he spends about a month in Berlin, the war ends and about 2 weeks later he is discharged and finds himself on his way home. No therapy, no nothing. He literally finds himself at the train station in his quiet sleepy little town in Georgetown IL, has a wife and a 4 year old son he had never met before (my dad) and everyone is patting him on the back saying "Well Bobby...I bet your glad thats over<chuckle>), what are you going to do for work?" (literally, he was asked that on his first day home after bayoneting Nazi's all across Europe)
My dad was the oldest of 4, 2 girls and 2 boys. My dad was already almost 4 years old before they met. My grandmother got pregnant before he left for Europe. Things were OK at first, he immediately got a job as an electrician for the city. When my dad hits about 10 yrs old, the PTSD kicked in (although nobody had a name for it or talked about it right?) My grandfather would come into my dads room, grab him by the hair and drag him outside and literally kick the ----- out of him, while yelling in German, would yell names of friends that had been killed in Europe, he would yell commands at people who werent there. One night he tried stabbing him with a pitch fork while he was on the ground. Then leave him out in the yard in a pile and go back to bed. Other nights he would go around the house with a stick or a bat just swinging at shadows and chasing things. Beat up grandma multiple times. But when morning would come, he would get out of bed like nothing ever happened, go to work etc etc. He would ask my dad about his bruises and my dad would tell him he got in a fight at school. By this time he had two little sisters and a baby brother.
Crazy it took so many years for society to realize that killing and bayoneting people might actually do something to your brain. The wild thing was that my grandfather, when he wasn't "sleepwalking" was that he was about 5'4" 130lbs and was the quietest, most gentle guy you could ever meet. Loved gardening and watering flowers and making little projects oriented around his electrical background. He had actually been contacted when they made Saving Private Ryan about being some sort of advisor (not sure about what) but he declined. Fortunately my dad and him were able to reconnect about 10 years before my grandfather died and get life sorted out. But unfortunately I missed out on a lot of interaction with him while I was growing up.
Anyway..... I know we have a lot of current vets on here dealing with PTSD issues. Maybe you can relate. He never did seek any treatment. You didnt do that back then. So I have no idea what he lived with during his life. But I know the one thing you DID NOT ever do was ask him to tell you war stories. Literally, the whole room would go quiet and everyone would stare at you. I made that mistake once :o
My dad's older brother served in the 504th PIR, too - broke his back on the jump into Nijmegen, fought on in terrible pain until they were relieved, including paddling across the Waal under intense fire. I knew nothing of it until my dad and I watched "A Bridge Too Far" on TV one night. They started the assault across the Waal, and my dad says, "You know your Uncle Jim did that?". He never said a word about his wartime experiences. By the time my dad mentioned it, my uncle had already passed away.
My father-in-law was the same way - served in the 5th Infantry Division from 1941 to 1945, wounded during the breakout from Normandy, wounded again in the Battle of the Bulge. He had a couple of funny stories he liked to tell about garrison duty, but only talked to me once about combat proper, when we'd both had a bit too much brandy.
Wild. Small world. By grandfather made that same jump as well. Im sure they knew each other. There werent many guys left after the Waal river crossing.
I was reading a book about the 1st Special Service Force, the Black Devils of Anzio, called "A Perfect Hell" and when I got to the picture pages, there was a picture of my mom's cousin, Sam Finn. He was posing with several other Forcemen at a reunion in Italy. He wasn't one of the original members that trained in Montana. He joined the 4th Ranger Battalion in North Africa and was one of the few survivors of the 4th from Cisterna. After the Ranger battalions were dissolved, he was transferred with a group of Rangers to the 1st SSF. I was able to meet him a once before he passed away a couple of years ago.
Quote from: Flying Pig on October 19, 2012, 11:39:35 PM
Wild. Small world. By grandfather made that same jump as well. Im sure they knew each other. There werent many guys left after the Waal river crossing.
You have to love the Internet - I was googling around this afternoon, and came across my uncle's name here:
http://lostatnijmegen.pre-jump.nl/the-men-of-the-82nd-airborne-division (http://lostatnijmegen.pre-jump.nl/the-men-of-the-82nd-airborne-division)
Might be an interesting read.
On the same google expedition today I learned of a cousin who died in the 1940 collision of two B-18 "Bolo" bombers over Queens, NY. Amazing what you can find.
Thanks for sharing. It led to some interesting internet searches.
Wow! That's really cool! Thanks for sharing! :clap: