In 1941 the United States had begun to prepare for the possibility of war and consequently, millions of jobs were being created. However, racial discrimination kept African Americans and other minorities from obtaining these defense industry jobs. In response to pressure from A. Philip Randolph, who had been organizing a march on Washington, and other … Continue reading Montford Point Marines
75 years ago, from February 19th to March 26th, 1945, the Battle of Iwo Jima raged in the Pacific Ocean. For 35 days, American and Japanese forces fought for control of the strategically important island. That battle produced one of the most iconic images of war, a photograph taken four days into the battle by … Continue reading Uncommon Valor: The Making of the Marine Corps Memorial
In this fourth and final post of How to Research WWII photographs, we will provide an example of how researchers can search for and identify images related to a specific US Marine Corps unit. As is true with the WWII Army, Army Air Forces, and Navy photographs, prior to beginning your search in Still Pictures, … Continue reading How to Research: Photographs Relating to WWII Marine Corps Units
In February 1969, only a few weeks after arriving in Vietnam, Sergeant Jon Sweeney disappeared from Company M, 3d Battalion, 9th Marines. Unable to keep up with his company he was left behind and told to join the rear guard that was only minutes behind. When the rear guard arrived Sweeney was nowhere to be … Continue reading The Case of Sergeant Jon M. Sweeney
In an effort to provide information on recently declassified motion pictures and sound recordings the Motion Picture, Sound and Video Branch will publish a quarterly list of newly declassified records. This quarter's list includes sound recordings relating to former Marine Sergeant Jon M. Sweeney who was a prisoner of war (POW) in Southeast Asia from … Continue reading Declassified Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings – 3rd Quarter
Who says Oscars are for Hollywood? Did you know that a number of films produced by the United States government were nominated or won Academy Awards? One such film is With the Marines at Tarawa, (Local Identifier: 80-MH-3527) which brought the experience of a major battle to the American public and consequently won the 1945 … Continue reading Bringing Battle to the Home Front: With the Marines at Tarawa
