New Guinea - WWII series

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Ray Downs posing with two army buddies and two New Guinea helpers

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A native hut in New Guinea 

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Posing with some New Guinea natives

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 David Rubin and Andy Grozdanoff

Friends at Camp Grant, Illinois

Graduating class from the Sanitation Technicians School
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Ray Downs and Lee Mecham
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Ray Downs and Lee Mecham
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Camp Grant Illinois
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I'm pretty sure this is the cutest soldier in WWII or any war since.  The first photo is of Ray Downs saluting.  The second photo is when he graduated from the Sanitation Technicians School and the 3rd image is of his graduation certificate.  All three of these images are from August 1942.

I know that good sanitation was very important while they were out fighting but I think I would have been really ticked if I had been drafted into the army and then given that assignment. (Just sayin')

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San Fabian - Town being liberated in the Philippines

This photo was taken in 1944, after the American army liberated the town of San Fabian.

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LDS soldiers in New Guinea are organized

I love to see that even during the war, soldiers joined together to worship.  I can't even imagine what comfort it was to these soldiers to be able to still go to church, even in the horrible conditions that they were in.

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Ray J. Downs is on the 2nd row from the front, 2nd from the left.

Entering town during invasion in Philippines

This photo was taken in January of 1944. 

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Company C - 31st Medical Training Battalion - Camp Grant, Illinois

I am so excited for this next series of posts.  I am currently archiving a large personal collection of World War II photographs.  There are some that are very disturbing that I won't be showing here but the rest I find really interesting and I hope that you will enjoy them as well.

This photograph is from 1942.  It is of half of Company C - 31st Medical Training Battalion - Camp Grant, Illinos.  The other half of the photograph is cut off and tucked behind this photo but adhesive stickers were used to attach it face down on the scrapbook paper so I can't get it off without damaging it.

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Mick Strather, Wallace Steward & Harry Nehmr - Hugo, OK - 3 of Hugo's Raunders

I'm not sure who these 3 men are or who Hugo's Raunder's are but I really like this photo.  It reminds me of some of my favorite movies like Newsies.  I don't know the story behind how the photograph got pen all over it but I'm sure a toddler was involved.  Luckily they didn't color in entire areas of the photo so I was able to remove the pen along with a lot of scratch marks.  I could have removed a lot more damage on this photo but I decided that the "worn look" gave the photograph character and honestly I like when old photos still look old.

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After

Francis Marion and Mary Elizabeth Hopkins

I am always amazed at how much damage can occur to a photo just by time.  This photograph is of Francis Marion and Mary Elizabeth Hopkins.  It was taken in the early 1900s and has become severly faded.  Luckily, I was able to pull the details out of this photo but often old photos become so faded that it is impossible to fix it.  That is why it is so important to get your photos archived and digitally restored now, before it is too late.

Before

After

This is the backside of the above photograph.  I love how Mary Elizabeth wrote a note on it and we can get a feel for the way she spoke.  

"They kept call us to come out and have our picture made and we just stepped out on the porch like we was and(?) they a sight (right?) "

-Papa and Mamma

Aunt Clyda

I don't know about you but I love old photographs.  Throughout my life I've heard little bits about distant relatives but without putting a face to the name, it doesn't mean a lot to me.  Photographs really bring a person to life and makes me feel connected to them.


This photograph is of Clyda Lou Hopkins.  It was taken in the early 1900s, although I don't know the exact date.

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The perfect gift

Now that Labor Day is over it looks like it's time to start thinking about Christmas; or at least that is what the retail world tells us.  Even though I hate that we think about Christmas before we have even had Halloween or Thanksgiving, sometimes you do need that extra bit of time to come up with gifts for those friends and family that have everything.

I have a few of those people in my life and gift giving events can be so stressful but a few years ago I realized that photographs are something that they are always happy to receive.  Of course Grandma and Grandpa love your children's school photos but what about giving them a restored photo from when they were a kid or of a parent who has passed on?  Or maybe they have a lot of photographs of their childhood or ancestors but they are just sitting in a box, aging.  Digitizing and archiving those photos would be such a precious keepsake for them and you can then give copies to anyone else who might enjoy them.

So start looking through those old photos and you are sure to find that perfect photo.  And as soon as you do, you and I can start creating that perfect Christmas present.

Rhonda Nerdin

Original

Restored Article

Up-Close view of the restored photo