Back on May 23rd, I wrote about the death of Wayne F. Miller, a World War II photographer who was a member of the U.S. Navy Combat Photo Unit. I'd never heard of it so Wiki there I go. I found information on this unit.
It was a group of military photographers under the command of Edward Ward Steichen and established in early 1942 to publicize naval aviation activities with a main objective to recruit pilots who were in short supply. The Navy had to compete with the Army for these men.
The Navy had a quota of 30,000 new pilots each year.
Wayne Miller, who just died recently, remembers Steichen's instructions: "I don't care what you do, Wayne, but bring back something that will please the brass a little bit, an aircraft carrier or somebody with braid; spend the rest of your time photographing the man.
It was Steichen's prime concern, don't photograph the war, photograph the man, the little guy, the struggle, the heartache, plus the dreams of this guy. Photograph the sailor."
They did. I'd sure like to get ahold of the photographs taken by this group.
"Photograph the Man." --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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