The Cushman photographs are a great link to our photographic past. I enjoyed looking at these images, both as a peek into our American and photographic past, but also a look into a personal past.
I used to buy and sell a lot of photographic gear on eBay for years, that is, until the market for old movie gear pretty much dried up a few years ago. I would occassionally come across collections similar to Mr. Cushman's though most don't come close to his in terms of sheer volume and scope. One collection stands out, however. It was that of a retired Navy doctor who had served during the Korean War. I acquired all of his photographic gear which included an Argus C3, enlarger, darkroom accoutrement, some slides, a Revere 99 8mm movie camera and about 20 cans of film footage from the 1940's-1950's. Most of the cans are 8mm Kodachrome movie film, though if memory serves, some of the oldest cans are Kodak b/w stock. One of the cans caught my eye immediately as it was labeled "Korean War Pictures." I got out my Bolex 8mm projector and ran the film only to be blown away at the footage. When I first read the label I figured it would be an 8mm version of news reels which were available at the time that I had often found mixed in with many a home movie collection. Not this one. This is the genuine article shot by the doctor on his Revere camera. I once compared the gate profile with the individual frames and these "camera originals" came from that camera. It appears as though the doctor was working on a hospital ship during Hungnam and the Inchon invasion and shot this footage. Anyway, a number of years ago I took some (mostly really awful) still digitals with my Oly Camedia 1.3MP point and shoot of the running film. Here they are for anyone who's interested: http://www.primelensphoto.com/korean_war/index.html What I love about discovering personal histories like this is the fascinating detective story that unfolds as you study the footage. I wasn't all that familiar with the Korean War prior to this but I soon became more curious as I found myself trying to identify weaponry, ships, and other artifacts from the film. >From my research, I believe the hospital ship shown is the USS Cosolation (AH-15): http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-c/ah15.htm I believe another of the ships shown very briefly in the footage (not shown in my gallery) is the USS Mount McKinley (AGC-7). Present at one time or another on the USS Mount McKinley were General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief Far-East Command, Rear Admiral James H. Doyle, U.S. Navy, Commander, Task Force 90; Brigadier General Edwin K. Wright, U.S. Army, MacArthur's Operations Officer, and Major General Edward M. Almond, U.S. Army, Commander, Tenth Corps. And last but very not least, Major General Oliver P. Smith, USMC, Commanding General, First Marine Division. If anyone familiar with military firearms could help me identify the weapon in "Korea 11," I'd appreciate it. I think it's an M3A1 Grease Gun but I can't be sure. -Brendan ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
