At Ease: Navy Men of World War IIIn the years following World War II, images of comradeship, particularly of men being physically close, largely disappeared from the public record. But, as these stunning photographs attest, ordinary American men in the extraordinary circumstances of World War II were affectionate, winsome, and playful - disarmingly innocent in a time of cataclysmic peril. Led by photography giant Captain Edward J. Steichen, the U.S. Naval Aviation Photographic Unit was organized during the war to record the daily experiences of Navy men all over the world and to provide newspapers and magazines with images to promote the American cause. The unit's photographers, which included Wayne Miller, Horace Bristol, Victor Jorgensen, and Barrett Gallagher, took thousands of pictures of soldiers as they relaxed, trained, prepared for the next battle, and waited. This book brings together more than 150 of those photographs culled from the National Archives, including many that have never before been published. Whereas World War II imagery tends to be dominated by combat photography and monumental depictions of weaponry, these photographs offer a rare, intimate look at the Navy men themselves. |
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aboard USS American Aviation cadets Aviation Photographic Unit Barrett Gallagher bath battle board the USS Bougainville Cadets receive instruction Calif Cannon Towel Charles Fenno Jacobs Charles Kerlee Coca-Cola December deck of USS Edward Enlisted men relaxing Enlisted men sunbathing enroute Espiritu Santo Falalop Island February flight deck Guam Hawaii Horace Bristol Iowa City Jersey BB-62 June location unknown machine gun magazine Marines Moraga National Archives Naval Aviation Photographic November October Parry Island Pearl Harbor Philippines photograph unattributed pilots planes Rabaul raid relaxing on board Sailors relaxing September 1942 ship Steichen submarine Sunbathers on flight sunbathing on board Thomas Binford torpedo U.S. Camera U.S. Navy USNR USS Albert USS Albert W USS Bunker Hill USS Hornet CV-12 USS Lexington CV-16 USS Nassau CVE-16 USS New Jersey USS Santee USS Saratoga CV-3 USS Suwannee USS Ticonderoga CV-14 USS Yorktown CV-10 Victor Jorgensen Wayne Miller World