WWII pics-Pacific

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Wow. There's an M1 carbine with a grenade launching attachment in there....haven't seen that one.
 
Thank you so much for posting this link! My dad (RIP) had missed being at Pearl Harbor by a week. He was a Chief Gunners Mate and had been working on the battleships, including the Arizona. He had just gotten back to Long Beach when the attack came. We have a letter he had sent to his parents dated Dec. 7, 1941 advising he was heading back to Pearl that night and had no idea when he would have time to communicate with them again. He spent the next two years on "cleanup" detail. He carried physical scars on his hands from working on the West Virginia the rest of his life.

My father-in-law (RIP) was a combat mud marine that fought in MANY of the island battles depicted in those pictures. He carried with him the emotional scars of the carnage he witnessed for the rest of his life. He was never able to talk about it.
I am very, very proud to be linked forever to both of these men and proud to know or have known some of their contemporaries. Thank you again for posting this link.
 
06 I can't tell you how much I appreciate this posting.

Thank you very much. A couple of my older vet buddies have enjoyed seeing it. My Dad certainly would have.
 
Picture 5 I believe shows civilian deaths caused by an American anti-aircraft shell hitting the ground 8 miles from Pearl Harbor, not from a Japanese bomb. Most of the Japanese bombs where high explosive anti ship bombs without the shrapnel that would cause the type of holes seen in the photo, especially since there are no blast effects visible in the photo.

Anti aircraft artillery shells were packed with a lot of shrapnel around the explosive and armed with a proximity timed fuse. The idea was set the fuse time so the shell goes off in the middle of the enemy plan formation; with enough shells going off and spraying shrapnel in all directions some planes are going to get hit. The holes in the planes look a lot like the holes in the car in this photo.

As I recall many of the sailors/soldiers who managed to get anti aircraft guns going on Dec. 7th 1941 were not properly trained on those weapons, and either did not set the fuses or did not set them correctly. A lot of shells went off when they hit the ground, including several in downtown Honolulu. Almost all the civilian deaths on Dec. 7th were caused by these friendly fire shells.
 
To get this thread firearm related, look at photo 16. The Marine to the on the right side of the landing ramp (as you look at the photo, port side of the craft) is holding a tommy gun with a drum magazine. I believe the U.S. Military only issued stick mags during WWII. I’m guessing this guy brought the magazine himself.

Same photo, the Marine in front of the drum mag tommy gun is holding some sort of break-open weapon? Can anyone ID that weapon?
 
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Great pictures. Reminds me what America can do.
In photo#49, the man sitting in the foreground is holding what appears to be a bolt action rifle. Can somebody please ID it? Is it an Enfield? Thanks.
 
Fascinating series of photgraphs. Thanks for posting the link!
A sidenote: I'm currently reading a book titled The Last Train From Hiroshima, which recounts the experiences of the people at Hiroshima and Nagasaki during and after the bombings. According to the book, the plutonium bomb that was dropped from Bock's Car missed the actual target in Nagasaki, and partially took out a nearby suburb of a nearby town. That town's name ......

Obama, Japan.


Hmmm. Doesn't really mean anything ... but I did raise an eyebrow.

Many of those photos made me appreciate what those men went through on those islands. Wow.
 
Quote,"In photo#49, the man sitting in the foreground is holding what appears to be a bolt action rifle. Can somebody please ID it? Is it an Enfield? Thanks."

Not an Enfield, It is a M1903 Springfield in 30.06. In some cases NCOs would use a bolt action with tracer rounds to direct fire for their squad.
Best,
Rob

Great collection of photos BTW!
 
Great photos, thanks very much for posting.

As I look at the men in the photos I wonder what was their fate and where they are today.

Truly the greatest generation.
 
Vey memorable pictures.

My parents are Filipinos and had horror stories when the Japanese occupied thier home town. My father was a young preteen when WWII was brought to the Philippines. He would remember hearing empty casings landing on the roof tops from American fighters when they were flying by. He would also hear constantly the rumbling of US bombers leveling Japanese positions. He also shared with me his story of how his uncle was beheaded by a Japanese officer. Those were the days...horrible days.:(
 
My uncle was on Wake Island when it was invaded the same week as Pearl Harbor. They held out for a time but were captured. He was left on the island with 99 other Morris Knutson employees who were there to build an airstrip. They were used as slave laborers until they were machined gunned on the beach 2 years later when the Americans were close to taking the island back. We didn't know what happened to him until we saw the History Channel Show Wake Island the Alamo of the Pacific. We saw his name on the memorial rock which was left at the site they were killed at. Our family was told he was missing in action and never found. They removed the bodies from the mass grave in 47 and buried them in the Punch Bowl National Memorial in Hawaii. Never too late to learn about family members and their fate.
 
robmkivseries70, I think we may both have misidentified the rifle in photo #49. Note the finger groove on the stock and what appears to be a monopod close to the muzzle(It might be the muzzle of the weapon the Marine behind him is holding.) Could this be a Type 38 Arasaka?
 
I believe the U.S. Military only issued stick mags during WWII. I’m guessing this guy brought the magazine himself
Click to expand...

USMC had M1936/[1922]1928 during Nicuragua & Haiti and the like. There's a Mills carrying bag for the L drums. Sources differ on whether C drums were 'tolerated' in field use.

Where the confusion may occur is with the M1 & M1A1 tommies. These have the charging handle on the side for a spotting reference. IIRC, M1A1 had no slot for the drum and took only the 20 & 30 round box mag.

But, I could be mis-remembering, too.
 
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CapnMac, thanks for the info. IIRC, the Marines were always at the tail end of the supply system. They may have had to beg, borrow, and steal any equipment they could get their hands on.
 
My Father was in the combat engineers for awhile but had a back injury and stayed stateside. He was in his barracks near Savannah, Ga when PH was attacked. He ended up doing med checks on new recruits when the war ended. I was born the day the Japs informally surrendered and as they were trying to get to the hospital everyone kept blowing their horns and waving-just like they were.
I remember a pilots story of how bad the odor of decaying flesh was and how he threw up as he was coming in to land at Iwo Jima.
 
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