War photos, not Valkyrie related

[Hoser]

Official Pictures of WW2 Pacific Theater (A lot of them)
The greatest generation.  Hoser

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/03/18/captured-blog-the-pacific-and-adjacent-theaters/#more-1547

[Raider]

Thanks for posting, Hoser.

[Mobile Mayor]

My mother, Cora Lillian Defibaugh, was commisioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, upon graduation from Sinai hospital school of nursing. She served in the 13 Army Air Corps until the end of the war as an air evacuation nurse.  As a member of that corps, she traveled through much of the pacific theater.  She never talked much about her experiences, other than ditching at sea during  a medical evacuation flight, and being picked up by a PBY, and having no losses of any patients aboard the flight.
  She flew aboard transports that landed on captured airfields under Japanese fire,  and evacuated wounded personel from those areas.   The military did not want it known that women were going under fire in combat.  She was told not to disclose this in letters to home, or upon discharge, to discuss it with anyone after the war was over and she was discharged.
  Her discharge papers give a general outline or where she was, and decorations received:  Bronze Star,  Silver Star,  Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, and the various decorations designating the actions she took part in.  After the war, she became a farm wife,  and a registered nurse.  She represented her ancestry well.  As a descendant of the Shawnee people,  she was a true warrior woman.   


 

[The emperor has no clothes]

My mother, Cora Lillian Defibaugh, was commisioned as a 1st Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, upon graduation from Sinai hospital school of nursing. She served in the 13 Army Air Corps until the end of the war as an air evacuation nurse.  As a member of that corps, she traveled through much of the pacific theater.  She never talked much about her experiences, other than ditching at sea during  a medical evacuation flight, and being picked up by a PBY, and having no losses of any patients aboard the flight.
  She flew aboard transports that landed on captured airfields under Japanese fire,  and evacuated wounded personel from those areas.   The military did not want it known that women were going under fire in combat.  She was told not to disclose this in letters to home, or upon discharge, to discuss it with anyone after the war was over and she was discharged.
  Her discharge papers give a general outline or where she was, and decorations received:  Bronze Star,  Silver Star,  Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, and the various decorations designating the actions she took part in.  After the war, she became a farm wife,  and a registered nurse.  She represented her ancestry well.  As a descendant of the Shawnee people,  she was a true warrior woman.   


 

Your Mom sounds like a great lady. I'm sure you are very proud

[six2go #152]

The pics showing Leyte(65,66,71,72) and Luzon is the area where my Dad was when I was born in '44. I think things must have been rougher than what he wanted to talk about.

[bassman]

Thanks for posting...there are a couple of other links at the end of these pictures showing WWII Normandy and Vietnam

[musclehead]

awesome pics, those guys and gals were tough!

[Jess from VA]

One of the things I enjoy looking for is what rifles are being carried.  Most Garands were going to the Army early (and the Marines generally got what the Navy and Army didn't want).  And the Marines were convinced the '03 was the best rifle ever made, and generally believed (early on) the Garand was a mickey mouse POS.

The Marines landed on the Canal with '03s (mostly).  Their belt fed machine guns, Thompsons, BARs, mortars, light artillery, and grenades greatly assisted in dealing with early banzai charges of the Japs (the Navy sailed off with their 155s and food and medicine and heavy equipment).  They survived on Jap food.

As the battle for the Canal continued, the Army landed in reinforcement armed with Garands.  It did not take long for the Marines to see the utility of a semiauto clip-fed 8-rd rifle over a 5-shot bolt gun, and to discover that while the '03 might still be superior for slow aimed fire at longer distances, the Garand was also a very accurate weapon, and for close-in fighting against wave attacks in jungle conditions, the Garand was a much better choice.  In short order, large numbers of Army Garands left anywhere in plain view disappeared and ended up in Marine hands.  The Army was indignant, and the Marines unrepentant.

As the Pacific island hopping campaign continued after Guadalcanal, Marines can be seen carrying Garands more and more throughout the war.

The real mickey mouse POS was the M1 Carbine.  Actually designed to replace the 1911 (and produced at about 1/4 the cost per copy of a 1911) for cooks and drivers and other non front line troops, it was certainly lighter to carry around all day than a Garand.

[solo1]

While the M1 and M2 carbines were considered the replacement for the 1911 and wern't all that powerful they did serve a purpose in Korea (The Forgotten war).  I saw Medics carry M2's as a small light weapon to keep the @#$%^ Chinese from shooting them. The Red Cross was a favorite target.

 My company, a medical company, was forbidden by Geneva conventions to carry, but we did have M2 carbines loaded with two 30 round magazines taped back to back. There were only seven M2's for our company of 75, and could only be issued for guard duty.

I was very lucky to not have seen combat but I did see the results.

[Jess from VA]

No question Wayne, if I had to choose between the M1C (and esp an M2C) and a 1911, I'd take a rifle every time.  (unless I had to hide it in my pants)

Violations of the rules of war by our enemies just keep getting worse and worse.  They are of course a great idea when everyone follows them, but at some point all they are is PC eyewash to UN and World Court socialists.

I could not be a medic as I cannot stomach working on people torn to pieces (esp every day).  And because there's no way I'm going to war without firearms. 

[beartooth]

The pics showing Leyte(65,66,71,72) and Luzon is the area where my Dad was when I was born in '44. I think things must have been rougher than what he wanted to talk about.

My dad seved on Leyte also and other islands during the war.
I also had a first Sargent that jumped on Corregidor. He said they jumped at 500 ft with no reserve chute. They would swing once and hit the ground. As they were getting up Jap snipers kept their attention. He said a naval barrage hit an ammo dump on the other side of a hill he landed on. Once he got up after the explosion he thought he was the only one left alive. Then people started moving. He said it was hard.
Airborne...all the way and then some.