Portfolio - This, too, is me
It seems that our younger selves and our older selves are so often thought of as two different people - and in many ways they are. But, what happens when you see both of them within one frame? When you look at these photos do you ask “who is this person?” or “who was this person?”
Claire was drafted and entered the Army on May 11, 1944. A journey that took him from Fillmore County, MN to Ft. Bliss, the South Pacific, the Philippines and finally, Japan. Claire would have been part of the Allied Invasion but the U.S. dropped the Atomic Bomb while he was enroute. He was in Hiroshima less than two weeks after the bombing. "It was all black, no living thing at all, it was just a hellhole. And thinking of all the people that, human beings they were, just like we are, gone.
Ed, 91. Ed enlisted in the Army Air Force in 1942. He served in the Pacific Theater as a navigator on B25 fighter planes. He is wearing his “50 Missions Hat,” which is how tour of duty was defined.
Dolly, 88. Dolly joined the W.A.V.E.S in 1944 after seeing a recruitment poster in the post office. After training at Hunter College in the Bronx for bedside nursing, she was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Hospital in Illinois to tend to wounded soldiers. Dolly’s husband, Bert, served in the Hellcat Division. Dolly and Bert met after the war and were married almost 60 years until Bert’s death in 2007.
Milo and Julie, both 90. Milo and Julie were high school sweethearts. They married in 1944, after he completed Navy Boot Camp. After the war, besides raising three children, Julie became a nurse and Milo a chemical engineer for several major candy companies. If you are a Salted Nut Roll fan, you can thank Milo.
Stan, 88 and GeeGee, 85. GeeGee’s father shot the photo of the young couple running along the Pacific Ocean on the Oregon coast in 1946. “We were so in love!” said GeeGee. They still are.
Pat, 89 and Jack, 92. Pat and Jack are true outdoor enthusiasts having spent time biking and volunteering as “citizen scientists.” When Pat began having balance problems, they got the bicycle built for two so they could continue to bike together.
Earl, 93 and Ginny, 90. The year is 1945, Earl and Ginny are at the Blue Note nightclub in Chicago listening to a little-known singer named Nat King Cole. They didn’t know at the time that they were watching a future legend, they just knew that they liked what they heard that night.
Earl as as a high school all-conference football player, 1935.
Patty, 86. In 1945 Patti takes a break while in boarding school in Faribault to play field hockey.
Dorothy, 86. “Dorothy From Kansas,” as she likes refer to herself, spent summers at a camp near Bemidji, MN. In her 1944 photo, 17-year-old Dorothy practices archery. Dorothy says she still follows the yellow brick road, which she considers to be her “continuous spiritual path.”
Jo, 87, and Marjorie, 87. High school sweethearts who started dating in 1940 and were married in 1946. Marjorie, as captain of the swim team, was the head “Penguin.” Jo liked to fish, but his best catch was Marjorie.
Jo, 87, and Marjorie, 87. High school sweethearts who started dating in 1940 and were married in 1946. Marjorie, as captain of the swim team, was the head “Penguin.” Jo liked to fish, but his best catch was Marjorie.