World War I ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918, so it only seems fitting to remember it on this Veterans Day, 11-11-11.   2011 also saw the passing of the last surviving WWI combat veteran, Australian Claude Choules at the age of 110.   Frank Buckles, the last remaining American veteran of WWI also passed away, leaving the living memory of the Western Front quiet forever.

It was one of the bloodiest conflicts in world history, and it wiped out an entire generation of young men in Europe.  It redrew a big chunk of the world map, and ended several empires.  It left much old Europe in economic ruins, but saw the United States rise on the world stage.  There were an estimated 6.8 million combat deaths in the war, a number that today is hard to comprehend.  Modern 20th century weaponry and 19th century tactics collided, with catastrophic results.  In one day of fighting at the Battle of the Somme, the British army lost 19,240 men with another 35,493 wounded…more than four times the number of men we’ve lost in a decade of fighting in the Middle East. In a single day.

The reasons for the war breaking out are hard to understand even today, buried in the politics of 19th century Europe.  The war ended with the Armistice, and the Treaty of Versailles–which planted the seeds of WWII.  We still remember the armistice that ended the war every November 11th–today we know it as Veterans Day.

We have a monument here in Hamilton dedicated to the men from the area that served in WWI.  This unnamed Doughboy has been standing at attention since 1921, when the monument was put in front of the Ravalli County Courthouse by the Service Star League.

The Honor Roll plaque has the inscription

“That the memory of the boys who gave their lives and their services in defense of their country and to perpetuate its ideals, shall live as an inspiration to courage and patriotism.”

It goes on to list the local boys who served overseas…

Today he still stands as one of the few reminders we have of “The Great War”.

This Veterans Day, give thanks to all of our men and women who have served for our country, and remember the boys who served “over there”, and breathed a collective sigh of relieve as the guns fell silent at 11-11-11.

A while back I posted about having the honor of doing photographic restoration for an upcoming book on the Korean War.  That book–”Combat History of the United States Marine Corps, The Korean War” is now available from Amazon!  The author is a decorated Vietnam veteran, and former National Emergency Planner for Korea.  This book is actually an English translation of the Korean original, many copies of which were given to members of the Republic of Korea Marine Corps (ROKMC) to give them a greater understanding of the history and relationship to the U.S. Marine Corps.  It’s an interesting read, showing the Korean respect for the U.S. effort in saving their country during the war.  If you get a chance, add it to your summer reading list.

Veterans Day was founded to commemorate the end of WWI, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the war. I have many family and friends who have served in the military, and I think it’s important that we should take a moment on this day to reflect on the sacrifices made by all those who have served, and continue to serve in our armed forces. For the past couple of years, I’ve shot a series of images to mark the occasion, and I’m sharing some here with you. Last year was dedicated to the men and women who served during WWII, this year I wanted to say “thanks” to American veterans of every conflict our country has engaged. Please take a moment to look through them, and give some thought to their sacrifices, and what they have given to our great nation. If you see a veteran today, say “thanks”. If you would like to further support out troops, please consider giving a donation to groups like the Wounded Warrior Project.
Each image is accompanied by a historical note.

First to Fight

The United States Marine Corps  fulfills a vital role in national security as an amphibious, expeditionary, air-ground combined arms task force, capable of forcible entry from the air, land and sea.  There are about 203,000 Marines on active duty.

Dress Uniform Cap, 1968

Standard cap worn with the U.S. Army dress uniform during the Viet Nam war.  This one belonged to my father.

Compass, M2 Engineering

The M2 compass is one of the few pieces of equipment from WWII still being used by our armed forces.  Originally patented in 1894, the M2 compass is known as a “Pocket Transit” in its civilian form.  It can perform many functions, and was used by artillery crews, engineers, surveyors, and also for general land navigation.

AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter

The AH-64 Apache is one of the most feared weapons platforms on the battlefield.  Its weapons loadout can be easily adapted to fill many different roles.  They currently provide close air support to U.S. ground forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Here you can see power controls for the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared thermal night vision), Radar, IR Jammer, etc.

U.S. Rifle Caliber .30, M1903

Widely known as the “1903 Springfield” after the armory where they were first manufactured, the ’03 was standard issue during WWI.  It was the first rifle to chamber the .30-06 cartridge, which would eventually become the most popular big game hunting round in the United States.  Based on the 1898 Mauser rifle, the ’03 Springfield was a robust, accurate, full power rifle that served through WWII, and was popular with competition shooters between wars because it was so accurate.  This example is a relatively rare one made by Remington at the start of WWII, before they began production of the simplified model 1903A3.

Good Conduct

Good conduct medal, bearing the inscription “Efficiency, Honor, Fidelity”.

Smith & Wesson M1917, .45 ACP

When the United States when to war in 1917, there was a severe shortage of Colt 1911 .45 automatics in the Army.  Both Colt and Smith & Wesson were contracted to build revolvers that could chamber the standard .45 automatic cartridge that was already in use, but because it was designed for use in automatic handguns, ammunition had to be used in “half moon” clips in the cylinder.  The M1917 revolver was popular with the troops it was issued to.   Strong, reliable, and powerful, the big Smith & Wesson served it’s owners well.

M7 Bayonet and Scabbard

The M7 bayonet entered service in 1964 for use with the then-new M16 rifle.  It’s officially been replaced by the M9 multi-purpose knife, but they are still in service today.

War Trophy

It was common during past wars to bring captured enemy equipment home from the battlefield.  Regulations today are much more stringent.  During WWII, handguns belonging to German officers were considered a real prize, with the “Luger” being the most prized of all.  Here you can see one, with a certificate from the ETO Headquarters proving ownership of the soldier who recovered it.

Give Thanks…

Give thanks to all the veterans of our wars who have given their best, and given their all.  Save your greatest thanks to those who gave everything they ever had, and everything they ever will have, in defense of our country.

Dedicated to the memory of PFC Kristofor Stonesifer, 75th Ranger Regiment

The Korean War has long been known as “The Forgotten War”, and with good reason…despite the fact that nearly every day we see news coming from the peninsula about North Korea’s nuclear program or tensions between the North and South, few Americans seem to know anything about the war we fought there from 1950 to 1953. It wasn’t a minor event…the United States suffered 36,940 men killed in action. I don’t believe there are any hard numbers on the losses inflicted on North Korean and Communist Chinese forces, but they are estimated to be around 900,000 killed, and an estimated 2 million civilians are thought to have died in the conflict. That’s not a minor “Police Action”, that’s a major war. It was also the first “proxy war” fought between the United States and the Communist powers of the Soviet Union/China, and the first real attempt at containing the spread of Communism. Also often forgotten is the fact that this was a U.N. action, and a total of 16 other countries fought beside the U.S. in Korea, although in relatively small numbers compared to the U.S. Countries as diverse as Ethiopia and Columbia had troops there. If you’re interested in learning more about the Korean War, I’d suggest the excellent book “The Darkest Summer” by Bill Sloan. It’s a great book, fast paced and easy reading. It discusses the historical, political, and global context of the war, which makes understanding how it fits into modern history very easy.

My Grandfather is a decorated Marine Corps veteran of WWII and Korea, where he was the commander of Company A, 1/5 Marines from the time they landed at Pusan until after the battle for Chosin Reservoir. He’s still very much involved with Veteran’s affairs, and one project he’s been working on is getting a book written by an officer in the Korean Army (ROK) translated into English and published in this country. The book had more than 50 images in it, all of which would need to be reproduced for the new book…problem is the quality of them wasn’t that great, and trying to reproduce them again would further degrade them. I offered to help out by trying to find better copies of the originals, and try to restore them to the point they could be published again. Good news is I was able to find good copies of all the images…bad news is they were all printed 50 years ago using the halftone process (for more information on halftone, see here) In order to get them ready for publication, I had to take a series of steps to enhance them, and remove the pattern left by the halftone printing process.
Here’s one example–

This is a screen shot of one of the images, zoomed in 100%. You can see the track that was blown off a North Korean tank, and a group of Marines in the background examining the damage to a pair of other tanks. The image on the left is the unprocessed original, on the right is the restored image. Click on the picture for a larger view. A process using a Fourier Transform was used to remove the pattern…something that will probably only be familiar to any math wizards out there. Notice how the dot pattern is completely gone, revealing a much more detail. A lot of other processing was also necessary, and the difference is pretty remarkable. Some images came out better than others–it really just depends on the quality of the original. They’re all much better than what he had to start with.

As I’ve said before, photographic restoration isn’t really my specialty, but this was really an interesting and rewarding project that I was glad to be a part of. Below is a set of the finished images.

Casualty of the Naktong. A wounded Marine being evacuated through a rice patty. There’s a South Korean laborer bringing up the rear. This is one of the few images I was able to find as a scan from an original print at the National Archives.

The Inchon Invasion. Looking much like the images we’ve all seen of the D-Day Normandy Invasion, Marines in landing craft are heading for “Blue Beach”. They had ladders with hooks on the top to be used in scaling the sea wall at the end of the beach.

Marines of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade in San Diego prepare to board ship for the trip to Korea.

Crossing the Han river. U.S. Marines and Korean Marine Corps (KMCs) ride amphibious tractors (AMTRACS) across the river. Hill 125 is on the far shore.

The Marines get their first look at Korea, as the U.S.S. Pickaway docks. A tug is nudging it into place. My Grandfather was aboard when this picture was taken.

U.S. Navy Hospitalmen R.E Rosegoom and Frank J. Yasso give first aid to a wounded North Korean (NKPA) prisoner or war.

The battle for Chosin Reservoir was some of the most brutal fighting of the war. It was here that 30,000 American troops were surrounded by an estimated 60,000 Communist Chinese troops of the PVA 9th Army. A cold front from Siberia had descended on Korea, and temperatures dropped to a bitter -35* Fahrenheit. Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, the Marines fought their way out of the encirclement.
Here, exhausted Marines huddle by the roadside during a halt in the Yudam-ni breakout from Chosin.

Another image of the Marines during the breakout, this one from Hagaru. It’s hard to imagine just trying to survive the conditions, let alone go into combat in them. When vehicles became crippled, they were simply pushed to the side of the road and left behind. Most of the Marines were on foot, and it was only the lucky few that didn’t suffer at least some frostbite.

Close air support–an F4U Corsair prepares for takeoff from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Sicily (CVE 118) armed with eight 5″ rockets and a 500 pound bomb. The Marines perfected air/ground fire support, and the gull-winged Corsairs were always a welcome sight to troops on the ground.

I’d also like to extend a special “thanks” to my Grandfather, and all American Veterans for your service.