Posted on Nov 27, 2013
What is your favorite historical military photo?
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Please post your favorite (historical) military photo in this thread and vote for your favorite. I'll start off with what is one of the greatest moments captured on film, the flag raising on Iwo Jima, plus a few more angles that are rarely seen.<div><br></div><div>Please add your favorite historical photos... they can be as old as the Civil War or as recent as Afghanistan (they don't need to be black and white!).</div>
Historical pictures
Pride
Heritage
Military History
Photography
Posted 12 y ago
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<p>A more recent pic that helps me forget about my whiny piddly everyday stuff is this one.</p><p>I have read the story a couple times and maybe some one actually knows him. He was blown up by a remote triggered IED. Knowing the insurgent was close enough to see, he refused to be carried to the medevac...instead he stood up and walked. Making sure that the insurgent knew he failed.</p><p>My apologies if this violates TOS.<br><br><br></p>
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SPC David Wyckoff
My sincere thanks, LT Annala. GySgt Burghardt and Cpl Woodridge, who beat a Taliban fighter to death with his own weapon, are guys that remind me I have exactly zero to bitch about each morning.
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SCPO (Join to see)
I remember hearing Gunny Burghardt talking about the incident during an interview. Semper Fi!!!
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GySgt Brian Robinson
If I remember correctly the crazy part is I don't think this was his only time being hit by an IED either.
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<p>Jack McNiece and the other filthy thirteen from the 101st Airborne Division prior to D-Day. There is no more zen feeling in the world than getting ready for a big mission. </p><p>And the face paint is classic.</p>
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CPT (Join to see)
I love this. Right after I got of the military, during my second break in service, I got the same hair cut. I thought it was pretty badass but my wife thought otherwise. After a few weeks I got rid of it.
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SSG John Caples
I was stationed at Ft. Campbell from 99 to 04 and those guys know the meaning of Brotherhood/Sister Hood they live eat and sleep mission and one another while on a mission,no on in the military is more Proficient than this DIVISION Hooah 106th TBN/ 594TH TC. - 129TH CSG/ 494TH TC
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<span style="color: rgb(78, 86, 101); font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(250, 251, 251); ">Graphic but an amazing depiction of the dedication to his brother in arms. </span>
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeromestarkey/ [login to see] /
US Army Spc Jacob Moore
This was only published five months after it was taken, once Jake had recovered and returned to his unit, and given his considered, written consent.
You can read the accompanying article, including an interview with Jake and his comrades, here: bit.ly/oN00ip
CAPTION: Specialist Jacob William Moore, 21, stares into the distance as he clutches the hand of a seriously wounded comrade on board a medevac air ambulance racing towards Kandahar Air Field in southern Afghanistan, Nov 22, 2010. Spc Moore was part of a stretcher team carrying a wounded man to safety when they hit a second explosive device, buried in their path. The men, from the 2-502 Infantry's Attack Company were operating in Nalgham, in Zhari district. Two Americans and one Afghan soldier were killed in the attacks, four others, including Spc Moore, were wounded.
The troops are part of the 101st Airborne Division - known as the screaming eagles - sent to Afghanistan in June 2010 as part of Barack Obama's surge. Moore and his comrades paid tribute to their fallen as "phenomenal soldiers". They said the general public in America have no idea what is going on in Afghanistan. Moore returned to active duty and finished out his tour in Afghanistan.
In 2012 he returned to Afghanistan for a second tour of duty.
Photographer: Jerome Starkey
Taken on November 22, 2010
Kandahar, AF
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I always loved this photo of General Maxwell Taylor, who commanded the 101st Abn during much of WWII and was the first general officer to land in France after jumping with his troops on D-Day.<div><br></div><div>Other than the pure awesomeness of a general leading his troops in the assault on Fortress Europe, I think it's absolutely phenomenal that he's doing so while wearing a neck tie. As a fellow paratrooper, I think it's entirely impractical; however, I love the principle of it. Professional.</div>
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CPT (Join to see)
Nice photo showing the changes to the parachute harness too. The good ol' T-7As. Basically took the chest bayonet clip and cut it out to sew in a single point "bang box".
If you are interested in the history, I suggest you look into some of the uniforms and equipment of the Parachute Test Platoon. Very cool stuff. Both General Taylor and General Gavin are incredible people to study when evaluating WW2. Airborne history was one of my favorite subjects, and was actually part of the reason I joined the military.
v/r,
CPT Butler
If you are interested in the history, I suggest you look into some of the uniforms and equipment of the Parachute Test Platoon. Very cool stuff. Both General Taylor and General Gavin are incredible people to study when evaluating WW2. Airborne history was one of my favorite subjects, and was actually part of the reason I joined the military.
v/r,
CPT Butler
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SPC Dwyer saving an Iraqi child during the initial phase of the Iaqi War...later dying from those mental wounds from war.
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CPT Aaron Kletzing
Wonderful photo. Powerful. Gives me goosebumps to think about what was probably happening in that moment.
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Outstanding compassion and bravery in a beautiful photograph.
Pfc. Joe Dwyer carried a young Iraqi boy who was injured during a heavy battle between the 7th Cavalry Regiment and Iraqi forces near the village of Al Faysaliyah, Iraq, on March 25, 2003.
The entranceway into the Army Times newsroom is lined with over-sized photos of service members in action, lifting a raft together, firing an artillery shell or embracing a loved one. But the most arresting of these to me has been a photograph of a medic named Spc. Joseph Patrick Dwyer, running heroically through a battle, carrying a pants-less Iraqi boy named Ali. To many, it may be familiar, but I did not know its origins.
The photo was taken for Military Times by photographer Warren Zinn on March 23, 2003, the early days of the war in Iraq, on the day after Dwyer’s humvee was hit by a rocket. The photo, which ran on the front page of USA Today, contains so much–chiefly Dwyer’s strength and heroism, and Ali’s fear and vulnerability.
After the firing had died down a bit, a neighbor flagged the Americans and began carrying the victims of the attack toward the American armored vehicles.
At that point, Army medic Pfc. Joseph Dwyer, 26, ran across the open field and swept Ali out of his father's arms and raced with him back to the U.S. positions — the scene caught by Zinn's camera.
"It was just what I could do at the time," he said shortly after the photograph was taken.
Dwyer and an Army doctor treated the boy until an Iraqi Red Crescent ambulance arrived to take Ali and three other wounded civilians to a hospital in Najaf, about nine miles away.
Ten days of treatment and follow-up trips to Najaf helped the wound heal. Ali can walk, although with a limp, and his father said he still has some pain.
Zinn gave Ali and his father a copy of the photograph and the USA TODAY in which it had first appeared. The shy boy was clearly entranced with the picture. Shamki was pleased with the gesture, but didn't seem to understand what all the fuss was about.
"That image was one of the first ones I'd ever taken that showed raw human emotion," Zinn said. "I wanted to go back to visit the child to see that he was all right and show what happens to the people after the U.S. comes through places like this."
"It meant a lot to me that he was still alive and OK."
SPC(P) Delcina Myers
Ma'am, that is a captivating story. Thank you for sharing - wonderful courage and selfless service by the soldier.
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SPC Brian R. Was the original BW, HLS, or RGB? What methods and tools did you use to perform this fine color restoration? Warmest Regards, Sandy
AB (Join to see)
I have a personal attachment to this photo because my father fought in World War 2 in the Battle of Okinawa With the USMC.
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1stSgt Eugene Harless
I actuacly Met Paul Ison in the Early 90s after it came out that was him in the photo, He was still a big man. He said that at he time he was extremely pissed off because he had to make an extra trip[ across the open to pick up more satchel charges.
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<div>I really like this shot of the senior US commanders of World War II. The gravity of what these guys experienced....</div><div><br></div><div>Seated from left to right: Generals William H. Simpson, George S. Patton, Carl A. Spaatz, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Courtney H. Hodges, and Leonard T. Gerow;</div><div><br></div><div>Standing from left to right: Generals Ralph F. Stearley, Hoyt Vandenberg, Walter Bedell Smith, Otto P. Weyland, and Richard E. Nugent.</div>
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SGT Frank -
Here is the image at much higher resolution 4224 x 6614 pixels
In two different books he wrote, Alfred Eisenstaedt gave two slightly different accounts of taking the photograph and of its nature.
From Eisenstaedt on Eisenstaedt:
In Times Square on V.J. Day I saw a sailor running along the street grabbing any and every girl in sight. Whether she was a grandmother, stout, thin, old, didn't make a difference. I was running ahead of him with my Leica looking back over my shoulder but none of the pictures that were possible pleased me. Then suddenly, in a flash, I saw something white being grabbed. I turned around and clicked the moment the sailor kissed the nurse. If she had been dressed in a dark dress I would never have taken the picture. If the sailor had worn a white uniform, the same. I took exactly four pictures. It was done within a few seconds.
Only one is right, on account of the balance. In the others the emphasis is wrong — the sailor on the left side is either too small or too tall. People tell me that when I am in heaven they will remember this picture.
From The Eye of Eisenstaedt:
I was walking through the crowds on V-J Day, looking for pictures. I noticed a sailor coming my way. He was grabbing every female he could find and kissing them all — young girls and old ladies alike. Then I noticed the nurse, standing in that enormous crowd. I focused on her, and just as I'd hoped, the sailor came along, grabbed the nurse, and bent down to kiss her. Now if this girl hadn't been a nurse, if she'd been dressed dark clothes, I wouldn't have had a picture. The contrast between her white dress and the sailor's dark uniform gives the photograph its extra impact.
SPC Charles Brown
I posted a similar pic from Life Magazine, and I agree this is probably the most iconic photos of the end of WWII in Europe.
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The compassionate side of Soldiers. MAJ Bieger in Mosul 2005 comforting a little girl wounded by a car bomb. Photo by Michael Yon.
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On May 2, 2005, Michael Yon, a former Green Beret embedded as a freelance journalist, took a dramatic photo of U.S. Army Major Mark Bieger cradling a wounded Iraqi girl.
Major Bieger tried to bring the girl to an American hospital for treatment but she died on the helicopter ride over. The Iraqi girl died from her wounds by shrapnel from an insurgents car bomb.
The photo was selected by TIME Magazine website viewers as the top photo of 2005.
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