WW2 aerial photos

[georgewxxx]

I know it's a bit off topic, but thought you guys might want to see these.

http://www.pbase.com/dwerbil/bomb_plot_gallery

I was digging through my book rack trying to rearrange them, and a little piece of paper fell out of one of the books on the floor with this web-site address on it. Haven't a clue who's handwriting it is or where it came from.

Very interesting 1944 high altitude aerial bomb plot images we used to asses damage during WW2 in Europe.

Picture #2 & 2A show a plane in flight with flak damage. several show bombs just being released and their intended targets in the background. #32 has a residential area in the background with a load of TNT on it's way down. ...Geo.

[monadnock#5]

One of my uncle's was a photo recon interpreter in Saigon during the war. When he came home he brought a pair of glasses with legs that he sat on a table top. He gave me two identical photos and told me to lay the photos side by side, place the glasses on top, and move the photos until they came into focus.

The 3D effect is amazing, startling, fascinating, all that and more. The better the resolution of the photos, the more startling the effect. Pretty good for 19th century technology.

Ken

[Buckshot]

.............Pretty neat stuff. Consider we have cameras in satellites in low earth orbit now with even better resolution. Simply amazing.

.................Buckshot

[PatMarlin]

Wow. They certainly wanted to nip Italy in the bud. Awesome.. :drinks:

[scrapcan]

As stated earlier it helps us younger generations to keep things in perspective. For instance the Bomber missing part of the wing may not have had a fun ride and the landing may have gotten rough.

On another note I read the biography of Ed McGovern entiltled "the Dakota Queen" which has alot of info on the bombers. Does not matter what political bent a person was at that time or in our current time, The men and women who served then and who are serving now need a bit of appreciation.

Thanks for the link.

[georgewxxx]

That Dakota Queen bio was George McGovern. His wife Eleanor just passed away.

[scrapcan]

Georgewxxx,

thanks for the correction. I just mistyped the name in haste to reply, not sure where i came up with the first name. Sorry.

None the less it was an excellent book. Too bad that politics get in the way of the good deads of great men and women and prevent them being noticed for their contribution.

Thanks for the link to the bombing run photos. Someday the rest of the citizens of this country will get to see what our men and women are now doing and enduring. Too bad it takes a generation for it to happen.

On a more recent note, from 2005 in Iraq, Capt Cortez responds to friends from her life at home where she was the president of the Local Master Gardner group.

Hello all,
I am on night watch tonight so I thought I would fill all in on the events of the last week or so.
Well, the month started off pretty slow. Myself along with a marine and my TSgt were asked to do a little favor and escort a few local nationals across a bridge and send them on their way to Bagdad. Well, there we are in a guntruck followed by 3 semis and 29 locals. The quick trip across the bridge ended up being a trip across the bridge, into TQ base and out the other side of the base...outside the wire by 4 miles or so as a lone vehicle...this was a nice 3 hour jaunt for us...
The next major adventure of the month consisted of an evening formation of the Iraqi troops to do accountability before lights out. Well, there was my team along with about 6 other americans in the midst of a formation of 100+ Iraqi soldiers. All was well until some of the soldiers would not shut up in formation so my LT has him drop and do a push-up. Well, all the Americans dropped to do this pushup...but the Iraqi didn't. One of the Iraqi NCOs decided to start chanting don't listen to the Americans and bring Sadam back....well, before we knew it a mob had formed and we backed the hell out of there...we did end up charging our weapons and moving out pretty quick. We got back to our villa and returned in guntrucks to now try and secure the armory which was located right by where the riot formed. Our Major went in first (SF guy) and was able to talk some sense into them...so there we sat at midnight sipping chi (tea) with the Iraqis and making peace.
Next on the list of fun events was to gather intel from two local workers and later on the same day apprehend a local worker for possible kidnapping, blackmail and death threats to another worker. I took 2 Iraqi MPs with me to process this guy and they loved it as it was their first bust since they came out of the MP school.
Last night was a hoot. I just made the comment of how quiet it has been when a firefight started near our tower. What started with 20 enemy rounds fired at the US and Irqai base ended up with about 120 AK 47 rounds, 50 PKC rds, a slew of SAW and M4 rounds being fired back (nice light show in the dark). My team and I mounted up and headed out to near the scene to check on our Iraqi soldiers

I will post the picture that goes with here message as soon as I have access at home. just good to see our troops as they live in their temporary surroundings.

[Sailman]

Monadnock # 5

The photos you mentioned were not identical. When the air crews make a photo run they make a run then fly a distance to the right or left and make another run. By doing this you get to see the sides of the objects being photographed. When looking through the stero glasses you get to see a three dimemtional immage. With practice one can do the same thing without looking through the glasses. Try closing you left eye and hold up your index finger on your right hand. When you get that finger in focus close your right eye and do not move your right finger. Do the same thing with your left finger and eye. Then, open both eyes and look at the right finger with your right eye and the left finger with the left eye. Now you will see three fingers. That is steroscopic viewing which is the same thing you are doing when you were looking through the stero glass. This is what people who do PI or photo interrupting do. A considerable ammount of combat intelligence is generated by PI.

Sailman

[9.3X62AL]

The book about George McGovern's service changed my outlook on the man profoundly. When he dabbled in presidential politics, I thought he was just another knee-jerk trendy leftist singing in harmony with Hanoi Jane and the Chicago Seven. Sen. McGovern more than earned the right to hold those beliefs and to express them, and I greatly regret every disrespectful word I've said about the man.

I REALLY liked 'the farmhouse story' and its closure at the end of the book!

[georgewxxx]

Manleyjt,

I kinda thought being Wyoming kid and neighbor to South Dakota, you should know Sen. Mc Govern. Couldn't resist bring up this thread to the top of the heap again.
I want to personally thank you for doing duty over in that God forsaken country, and giving us insight to what's going on over there. Something a little different that the network news is refreshing. ...Geo

[scrapcan]

Georgexxx,

No service record in my past. The post that i made was to show we have lots of noble people who leave and come back to normal lives and no one knows any different. I commend all who have served our country. Give the thanks to all the men and women you see wearing the stars and stripes. And I tend to listen and hold more creedence to those who have the experience, individuals like Capt. Cortez or Sen. McGovern.

And for McGovern, he was before my time but I try to read books other than fiction. I just screwed up on the name ( see what happens when you let the younger generation loose damn that generation x). To tell you the truth, I did not hear about McGoven until 12 years after I finished 6 years of college, no mention that I recall in any history class. What is the old saying, if you don't pay attention to history or you are deamed to repeat it. I believe that.

Deputy Al,

I agree with you. Thanks for the comments related to the book. I read the book while traveling for work. I came home and promptly checked it out of the library as a book on CD so that I could learn a little more. I think politics can cloud a persons true character. And more than once just because you have to choose a party to be affiliated with and the party line covers up the true person.


All,

Here is the picture of the soldier and others that I posted about previously.