Veteran's Day 2019: Honoring My Father

Also read my Reflections on what we haven't learned from Warfare........

Reliving Childhood Memories

Holidays, like Thanksgiving, often cause us to reminisce.  But often Childhood memories cannot be  revisited without disappointment.  So I report to you here, to kick off the Holiday Season. a childhood revisit that DID NOT disappoint:  The Black Hills 1880 Train.

Of course the train that I had experienced in 1969 has been retired, but had a long and productive life in film and television, as well as taking my family on a fun ride that August afternoon in 1969.  That engine wasn't actually from 1880, but the founder of the line said upon his first ride, that it felt like the 1880's.

Still steam powered (above recharging the boiler between runs). but now by oil instead of coal.

A few times a day, they also check the oils levels for the gears.

Whenever I have the chance to ride a steam train I do.  My Father loved trains.  He started his career at the Post Office on mail trains in the 1950's.  And yes, there were still Steam Engines on line then.  

I always think of him when I ride a train......

I hope you and yours had a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted as Week #41 of the 52 Rolls Project.....

Father's Day @ HearseCon

And you say what IS HearseCon?  Click the link and see.  An unusual festival that we stumbled upon at another unusual festival a few years ago.


We'll Start with portraits, some intentional and some accidental:

And A Happy Father's day to Donald and all of you Guys out there following this Blog!

And to Our Fathers, some of whom have passed on.

W'ell move on the the weird stuff in the next post.

The Railway Post Office

I've saved my Last Railroad posting as a Dedication to My Father, on his Birthday.  He began his Postal Service Career riding the rails for the Railway Post Office in the 1950's.  He moved to more regular postal work around the time I was born.

My Uncle Charles, however, stayed with the Railway Post Office until it's demise in the Late 1970's.

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month........

The Armistice ending WWI went into effect.  After WWII we renamed it Veteran's Day here in America.

This is a special posting of Monday's On-line featuring imagery from WWI and WWII and photos taken by a Korean War Veteran..

First a recent link to World War I as the first real Media documentation of War:  We often forget how grim it really was.

Next images from World War II in Color.  All in Kodachrome! The Italian Campaign where my Father served. See some of his photos HERE (B&W).  And more WWII in color here.

And Finally a preview of some beautiful photography by my late Father-in-law from Post war Japan.  He was on his way to Korea, and fortunately for him the Korean War ended before he got there.

And what Most Veterans Actually Wish for our Future:

Veteran's Day 2010

Honoring all of our Veterans, Past and Present:

Dad (left) on the Firing Range, training for WWII.

Ending a Week of Remembrance........

With a Poppy of Flanders from my garden this past summer. The symbol of Remembrance of WWI in Europe.

The Rastas Meet A Real Buffalo Soldier

Ending a nearly a week of remembrance, I am reminded of the day my father spoke to our Rastafarian Neighbors. In general they were regarded as a nuisance in our neighborhood. So when they moved into the house next door my Father was not pleased. Mostly because the kids ran around everywhere, including our yard, and my Father worked at night. So he needed to sleep part of the day, not easy when your neighbors are continuously blasting the street with Reggae.

But one day, he heard them play Bob Marley's 'Buffalo Soldiers'. So Dad called over the fence to them and asked about the song. Then he introduced himself as a real Buffalo Soldier.






Now in case you didn't know, there were real U.S. Infantry and Cavalry Regiments of African-American soldiers, given their name originally by the Plains Indians, who thought their hair resemble that of the Buffalo (American Bison).

He spoke often of his time training for Desert warfare in Fort Huachuca, Arizona. Donald and I had a chance to visit a few years ago. The 10th Cavalry was one of the original regiments and the most famous Black Regiment from the American Indian Wars (~1866-1885), and served under General John J. 'Black Jack' Pershing's during the Spanish American War (1898).

Can you guess why he had that nickname?

Faith on Film: Pisa 1946

Finishing up Father's Italian Campaign with his photos of the Basilica at Pisa.

I have no idea what type of camera he used. If anyone has any idea what camera a WWII American soldier would have carried, Please let me know.

For gorgeous photos of Basilica visit I Love Old Cameras, a new blog I'm following......












The leaning Tower is in the background. I decided NOT to retouch my Father's original photos.


As they say, 'there are no atheists in a fox hole' I also have the New Testament and Book of Psalms that my Father carried into battle.

My Father Always Remembered the Children

Father and his friends with two Italian Children and a not too happy sheep.

In all of the times he told us stories about Italy, he always remembered meeting the children.

Colored Officer's Club, Italy 1946

My Father (left) and an un-named army friend (far right) that appears in several photos with him.

Army Training: Fort Dix New Jersey, 1942

My Father and his friends prepare for deployment to North Africa. But there's still time for some fun.

Veteran's Day 2009

A Vintage family Photo of my Father at Officer's Training during WWII. Qualified candidates went through 90 days of training, and were thus called '90 Day Wonders'. Think of the movie, 'An Officer and a Gentleman'. My Father served with the Famous Buffalo Soldiers, in a then segregated U.S. Army.


I'll be posting some of my Father's old photos from training and Italy for the rest of this week........

Visit Trojan's Corner, for the origins of our Veteran's Day.

And visit Bristol Daily photo to meet an old soldier, still alive and not quite ready to fade away.........

Turning Father’s Polaroid into a Medium Format Film Camera?

It has been a while since I've talked about one of my cameras. I have inherited my Father’s Polaroid Land J33 camera. Much to my chagrin, it turned out to be a roll film camera (such Polaroid film was discontinued long ago). So my real hopes of making practical use of this camera were ended.


The Land J33 was used regularly in our family to record seasonal events, such as BBQ, House Parties, and our Annual Easter Pictures.




















My Mom in 1959 with our tenant's cat Mister.






















Me in 1962 with my favorite Bunnies from Easters Past





















All of us (dad taking the picture) at an amusement park on Long Island, 1962


I have found on the internet, instructions for “converting” this camera into a standard medium format film camera. But with no way to advance the film (Polaroid film was advanced by pulling on a paper strip attached to the film), the film must be advanced manually by opening the camera back. Of course this must be done in a darkroom, or a film-changing bag (both of which I have access to). But it will never be a ‘practical’ camera to use, and that is disappointing.

The camera is in excellent condition. And I will run a roll of film through it and report back to you later. It will require Ilford ISO 3200 film, as the original Polaroid film was ISO 3000.

About Family

This past weekend my family in Cincinnati had a reunion. Mostly local people, due to the economic situation few of us out-of-towners could make it. But a good first step for a family that usually only gathers only for weddings and funerals.

So I thought that I would post a vintage family photo in honor of the occasion.

Here My Great Grand Mother, Prudence Caldwell, wife of a Presbyterian minister. Circa 1910's? This is my Father's Grandmother.

Happy Father's Day 2009

Happy Father's Day to All! Another photo of my Father, from my Family Tree Series. Dad was Policeman back in the 1950's in Cincinnati. But when they started putting "cops in cars" he and his partner (later my God Father) were both very tall and very uncomfortable in those cars. So they both quit and went on to other things.

As with parents and children everywhere, we had ups and downs. But I can look back on my early childhood as a great time of discovery and bonding with my Dad. I believe in preserving the memories of the best of a relationship, even if it turned a little off later on.

Unfortunately we can't all feel that way. Let's try to be positive and not be like this man in England. You know it just doesn't serve anyone to hang on to this type of baggage.

I began the Family Tree Series as part of a Alternative Processes Class taught by Don Anderson at Monterey Peninsula College, California. This is a Cyanotype as was my Memorial Day posting. At some point I will talk a bit about alternative processes, and making those big negatives for contact printing.

Memorial Day 2009

For Memorial Day I'm posting this Cyanotype and van Dyke collage of my father's WW II photos from training and the Italian Campaign.

And remember what Memorial Day really is about; more than just BBQ!