Unknown soldier

A few years ago after my grandmother passed away, my mother found an old shoebox tucked away in her closet. To her surprise, the box was filled with old vintage photographs taken from the early 20th century. It was as if it had been neglected for almost a century. The photos were scratched, some torn and nearly all were fading away. After some searching, my mother was never able to find out who was in the photographs.

Unfortunately, there are probably millions of people in the world that were never able to solve the mysteries of their own ancestral photographs passed down from generation to generation. Unless you meticulously researched the photos with surviving family members, chances are that the stories in most of your photos will be lost forever.

The more I thought this over, I wondered, wouldn’t it be great if there was a place one could turn to for help in solving your photo mysteries? Perhaps an easy-to-use website where one could upload a photo and harvest the power of a global audience that may know something about your photograph? They may not know who is in the photograph, but they may spot a building in the photo or a type of uniform that was only worn in a certain time period. Perhaps a license plate on a vintage automobile can shed light on the year the photo was taken? These are all clues that photo detectives use in solving photograph mysteries.

As the creator of dustyfoto.com, it is my hope that this website will aid you in learning more about the stories behind your photographs. Come take a look. Upload a photo or two and let us know what you think! We look forward to seeing your photos and the possibility that someone else may be able to help you solve the mystery! Visit site here.

As the saying goes “A picture is worth a thousand words” – I think I’d have to disagree. I think it tells you more than that. Maybe I am too much of a WW2 fanatic, but every time I look at those images, my mind starts to analyze every tiny detail in the picture.
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Enjoy the pictures! They come with the official NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) descriptions. There are 15 in total. (Click pictures to zoom in.)
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#1 - Over the Pyramids, Egypt

An Air Transport Command plane flies over the pyramids in Egypt.Loaded with urgent war supplies and materials, this plane is one of a fleet flying shipments from the U.S. across the Atlantic and the continent of Africa to strategic battle zones. 1943. Exact Date Shot Unknown.  (Army)
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#2 Arriving in France on D-Day

Landing on the coast of France under heavy Nazi machine gun fire are these American soldiers, shown just as they left the ramp of a Coast Guard landing boat, June 6, 1944. CPhoM. Robert F. Sargent. (Coast Guard). The effect between clouds and dunes is extremely nice.
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#3 Shell After Shell

American howitzers shell German forces retreating near Carentan, France. July 11, 1944. Franklin. (Army)
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#4 Paratroopers Over Holland

Parachutes open overhead as waves of paratroops land in Holland during operations by the 1st Allied Airborne Army. September 1944. Exact Date Shot Unknown (Army)
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#5 Noisy Mortar

“Getting across the Rhine wasn’t all there was to it. There was the little matter of establishing a beachhead. We threw our mortars at them and everything else we had untill they finally gave away.” 1945. Army. Exact Date Shot Unknown (OWI)
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#6 Stay Low!

“I drew an assault boat to cross in - just my luck. We all tried to crawl under each other because the lead was flying around like hail.” Crossing the Rhine under enemy fire at St. Goar, March 1945. Army. Exact Date Shot Unknown (OWI)
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#7 Air Bombing

“The first big raid by the 8th Air Force was on a Focke Wulf plant at Marienburg. Coming back, the Germans were up in full force and we lost at least 80 ships - 800 men, many of them pals.” 1943. Army Air Forces. Exact Date Shot Unknown (OWI)
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#8 Running Into Uncertainty

Soldiers of the 55th Armored Infantry Battalion and tank of the 22nd Tank Battalion, move through smoke filled street. Wernberg, Germany. April 22, 1945. Pvt. Joseph Scrippens.  (Army)
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#9 Spotting

Observer who spotted a machine gun nest finds its location on a map so they can send the information to artillery or mortars to wipe out the position.  Iwo Jima, February 1945.  Dreyfuss. Exact Date Shot Unknown (Marine Corps)
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#10 Raising the Flag

Flag raising on Iwo Jima. February 23, 1945. Joe Rosenthal, Associated Press. (Navy) From the crest of Mount Suribachi, the Stars and Stripes wave in triumph over Iwo Jima after U.S. Marines had fought their way inch by inch up its steep lava-encrusted slopes.  Ca.  February 1945.
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#11 Rockets

Corsair fighter looses its load of rocket projectiles on a run against a Jap stronghold on Okinawa. In the lower background is the smoke of battle as Marine units move in to follow up with a Sunday punch. Ca. June 1945. Lt. David D. Duncan. Exact Date Shot Unknown (Marine Corps)
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#12 Dashing For His Life

A Marine dashes through Japanese machine gun fire while crossing a draw, called Death Valley by the men fighting there. Marines sustained more than 125 casualties in eight hours crossing this valley. Okinawa, May 10, 1945. Pvt. Bob Bailey.  (Marine Corps)
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#13 Anti-aircraft Fire

Japanese night raiders are greeted with a lacework of anti-aircraft fire by the Marine defenders of Yontan airfield, on Okinawa.  In the foreground are Marine Corsair fighter planes of the “Hell’s Belles’ squadron. 1945. T.Sgt. Chorlest. Exact Date Shot Unknown (Marine Corps)
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#14 Air Raid

USS ESSEX based TBMs and SB2Cs dropping bombs on Hokadate, Japan. July 1945. Exact Date Shot Unknown (Navy)
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#15 Hundreds of Shells

Task Force 58 raid on Japan. 40mm guns firing aboard USS HORNET on 16 February 1945, as the carrier’s planes were raiding Tokyo. Note expended shells and ready-service ammunition at right. February 1945. Lt. Comdr. Charles Kerlee. (Navy) - Note the shells on ground.

Thank you for viewing. More photos at WW2 in Color.

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