This photo hung in our house all of my life. My dad was proud of this photo. I have a letter that he sent to my mom and young son dated August 1942. He had just spent his first day in the army and thought he would be ok if he just took it a day at a time. He was drafted into the army with a son born and another on it's way.
Every time I pick this up I have to search for Jesse Thomas Burgus standing in this photo. He is in the fourth row from from the top and the far right side. This is the platoon that he was assigned to when he left basic training. On the back of the photo it says. Battery B 89th CA(AA), Washington D.C.
Digital cameras are funny as it detected that the photo is a little out of focus on the right side. When I took the picture the camera would come back to me asking if someone had blinked. My dad would have been in this photo at the end of basic training. He would have been 25 years of age by the time he was through with basic.
The higher ranked soldiers were all in the front row and the dog has his eyes protected from the flash.
My dad knew how many men were in the picture as he had counted them. I wouldn't want to guess. I don't know this for sure but I expect they were divided up and assigned to different platoons as time went on. My dad was reassigned on when he went overseas. With 1,200 World War 2 soldiers dying each day I am certain the majority of these guys are not alive.
My dad was old for being drafted into the army. He was one of the oldest among all the other draftees. Some of these guys were 19 and 20 in 1943 when this was taken. The youngest ones drafted could be in their upper 80's early 90's now. I wonder as I look at the picture which ones went overseas for battle and where in the parts of the world that they were assigned.
Dad was in Washington DC for a year or more then placed in a new platoon that was shipped to Belgium. They were then sent on to the Battle of the Bulge. The number of men who died in the total Battle of the Bulge was 35,000 men.
As my life settles down, I plan to create a blog just for my dad's World War 2 photos. I have a lot of army photos that I need to share with my brothers and I think blogging them will make them out there for others who are interested to see also.
Check out the others who are participating in Sepia Saturday by clicking here.
17 comments:
My father was at least 30 when he joined the Army. He stayed safely in this country.
While my dad was overseas in 1944 they had announced that they were just going to now start drafting older men with children. He was amazed as he had already been pulled in two yeas before with two baby boys at home.
My elder brother was in the Fleet Air Arm in the Mediterranean during WWII on aircraft carriers; I wonder what happened to all his photos from Malta and Egypt. He would have been in his twenties then. He would not talk about his experiences.
A photo to be proud of. I look forward to seeing your blog on your father.
Love the idea of the WW2 blog. You might add extra pages where others can contribute images from the war and be a bit of a clearing house for people trying to find each other from long ago.
Day at a time! Brilliant. That's the way to get through basic. And a war. Glad he came back safely to his family afterward!
Reminds me of some pics of my dad in WW2 in Europe.
Thank you for a wonderful post.
I'm also glad your father cam home safely. Imagine all the stories of all of those men and their families and how they were all affected by the war.
Wonderful photograph. But your words are just as impressive. I too wonder how many of those brave lads would still be alive at the end of the war. My goodness, we have it easy don't we?
I'm glad, also, that your Dad got back O.K.
How did they shade the dog's eyes? I blew it up but couldn't tell. Imagine, shading his eyes for the flashbulbs, but then sending him off to war! Or maybe he was just a mascot.
Barbara
That is a wonderful photo! Having a seperate blog is a very neat idea! I can't believe you have enough pictures for that. You're dad would have loved it! :)
I have a large pile of them that my dad had sent back to my mom. I keep finding them among the regular old photos and my brothers probably have a few. My dad had a friend overseas who was a camera bug so my dad was benefited by his interest and the photos.
A day at a time amounts to a lot of days for the war to end. i can't begin to imagine how dreadful it was. Wonderful photo and information.
Hi Larry, this is such a cool post. After I did a Sepia Saturday post on my FIL during WW2 when he was a Navy Sea Bea in Guam, and I found a Navy Sea Bee website, and gave them the link to my blog post. I continue to get lots of hits on it from their site. I'm sure that there are other WW2 vet sites that would love your photo, or a link to your blog when you get it done. On another note, thanks to your Dad for fighting to keep America safe. Take care.
great pictures!!
instead of multiplying the blogs,
why not installed a new tab to make it simple to find what pertains to your dad, but still can be seen with the rest which is similar in nature actually?
i'm just saying...
:)~
HUGZ
I can see why your father would want to keep this photo hanging in his home. When looking at photos of military men taken during times of war I always feel so sad for them. They bravely defended our country and yet their lives and minds were so changed by what they saw and lived through. I think it would be a great tribute to your father to post his photos. As TB suggested, you could keep them on this blog and add a tab at the top. And I like your new header image. Looks good!
Yes.Brave Men All.I suppose they too would have been wondering the Future as the Flash went off.........
My Dad was in The Battle of Arnhem.(Free Polish Airforce)I Wonder If Yours & Mine's Paths Ever Crossed?
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