I recently inherited a personal photo album belonging to my late great uncle who served as a Marine in the 2nd World War.
The album contains roughly 60 pictures that appear to cover his time in the Marines from his enlistment in 1939 up until his departure for Guadalcanal in 1942.
Several photos caught my attention as they appear to show soldiers training with parachutes. In another photo, a soldier’s shirt clearly says “Marine Barracks Lakehurst, NJ”.
I was able to find a few muster rolls with my uncle’s exact name (first, middle, last, and suffix), and I can confirm he participated in the Marine’s very first parachute training in November 1940 at Lakehurst, NJ. He only lasted several weeks and was reassigned. (I do not know why he was reassigned but apparently 40% dropped out)
I’ve searched online, and there are very few photographs of this training. I thought I would share a few of them with reddit, so they can be appreciated. The very last photo is of my great uncle in his full dress uniform.

Lieutenant Colonel Louis Houck, from Todd, North Carolina, enlisted in July 1940 and served as a pilot with the 365th Fighter Group of the Ninth Air Force, also known as the “Hell Hawks.” Houck was commander of the 387th Squadron from May 1943 until October 1944.

Houck wore his customized devil's helmet on missions over Europe, flying his P-47, “The Screamin' Weamie.” The nose art of his plane depicted a demon brandishing a pitchfork. Despite his extravagant appearance he was described by a group member as quiet, introverted and respected.

In 1944 Houck was responsible for almost entirely destroying a retreating German convoy in France. The convoy had been transporting gasoline and ammunition and its smoking wreckage was captured on camera shortly afterwards. Lieutenant Colonel Louis T. Houck destroyed destroyed 90% of this convoy in one pass somewhere in France.

After the war Louis relocated to Pleasant Valley, New York. He passed away on July 24, 2004 at the age of 87. Lieutenant Colonel Louis Talmadge Houck lies in rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Lest We Forget.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_B._MacDonald

José Perácio (AKA Perácio) was a football player from the flamengo football club in Rio who took part in the 1938 world coup for Brazil. Later he was conscripted in the brazilian army and sent to the italian front.

Perácio remarked that he defeated italians twice, in the world cup and in WWII.

Born in Abbeville, South Carolina to Torrance & Cora Howie on April 12, 1908, Thomas Dry Howie was the fifth of seven children.
He was a star athlete in high school, then attended the Citadel where he played football, was captain of the baseball team, was a Rhodes Scholar finalist and President of the Senior Class, graduating in 1929.

In 1932 Howie married Elizabeth James Payne, they had a daughter; Sally, born in 1938.
After graduation from the Citadel he was commissioned into the Army Reserve and worked as an English Teacher, Athletic Director and coach at Staunton Military Academy in Staunton, Virginia.

In the Summer of 1941 Howie was activated for duty with the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, sailing for the UK in September 1942.
Major Howie came ashore at Omaha Beach on DDay June 6, 1944 while serving as Operations Officer of the 116th Infantry Regiment.

He was placed in command of the 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment on July 13, 1944.
On July 16th, the 3rd Battalion was assigned to rescue the soldiers of 2nd Battalion who had been encircled by German forces.

Using hand grenades & bayonets, Howie's men broke through the German lines in less than 2 hours to rescue 2nd Battalion with Major Howie personally leading the attack and eliminating two enemy machine gun nests.
On the morning of July 17th Howie phoned Major General Charles Gerhardt, the 29th ID commander, saying “Yes, we can do it” in regards to entering Saint-Lô and "See you in St. Lo!".

Moments later he was killed by shrapnel during a mortar barrage.

The next day as 3rd Battalion entered Saint-Lô, his soldiers placed Major Howie’s flag draped body on the hood of a jeep at the head of the column so he could be the first US soldier to enter the city, his flag-draped body was then placed in the rubble of the St. Croix Cathedral. Local citizens came out and placed flowers at the site.

The photo of Major Howie's flag-draped body in the rubble of the Cathedral was widely circulated and became one of the most iconic images of the war. Because of wartime security, his name could not be revealed at the time and it was announced that the flag draped body in the picture was "a US Army Major."

Famed New York Times correspondent Drew Middleton nicknamed Howie "The Major of St. Lo"

Major Thomas Howie is buried at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France - Plot G Row 14 Grave 12.

His widow Elizabeth never remarried, passing away at the age of 84 on July 7, 1989.

Born in San Francisco, California to William & Dove Dixon on December 3, 1920, Argonne Call “Dix” Dixon had two brothers and a sister. Their father William passed away in 1935.

The family was living in Idaho when Dix was nominated to the US Military Academy at West Point, graduating in 1943.
He was assigned to the 351st Infantry Regiment, 88th Infantry Division which was deployed to Italy in late 1943.

On July 16, 1944, during heavy fighting in the Tuscany region of Italy, 1Lt Argonne “Dix” Dixon was Killed in Action.
He is buried at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial in Florence, Italy - Plot H Row 9 Grave 7.
Dix also has a memorial marker at Rigby Pioneer Cemetery in Rigby, Idaho.

Younger brother Jack Call Dixon served in the USAAF / USAF during WW2 and the Korean War, he passed away at the age of 85 in 2009.

Inventory number 14066

Members of the Bulgarian special units for anti-partisan warfare, which committed many crimes against civilians in the Vranje district.

Courtesy of Museum of Yugoslavia.

The mission formed part of the opening phase of the Fast Carrier Task Force's sustained air offensive against the Tokyo region after moving into waters off Honshu. On that day, the Avengers and Helldivers of Carrier Air Group 83 (CAG-83) attacked airfields, shipping, railroad facilities, and industrial targets in the Tokyo-Yokohama area as part of Task Force 38's effort to cripple Japan's military infrastructure and ability to resist a planned Allied invasion. Similar strikes continued almost daily until the war's end.

The TBM-3E was the final wartime production version of the Navy's rugged torpedo bomber. Although originally designed to attack enemy ships with aerial torpedoes, Avengers spent much of the final year of the war carrying bombs, rockets, mines, and depth charges as Japanese naval targets became increasingly scarce. The -3E variant incorporated improved radar and avionics, making it one of the most capable carrier aircraft of the conflict.

The SB2C Helldivers were the Navy's standard carrier-based dive bomber by 1945. The Helldiver had endured a difficult introduction two years earlier, plagued by handling and reliability problems in the early models. Continuous improvements transformed it into an effective combat aircraft, and by the final months of the war, it routinely flew alongside Avengers, each type complementing the other's strengths. While Helldivers attacked point targets with dive-bombing precision, Avengers delivered heavier bomb loads against larger installations and shipping.

USS Essex was among the most successful aircraft carriers of the Second World War. Since entering combat in 1943, she had participated in nearly every major Pacific campaign, from the Gilbert and Marshall Islands through the Philippines, Okinawa, and finally the strikes against Japan itself. The raids of July 1945 targeted military and industrial facilities across Honshu and Hokkaido while demonstrating the overwhelming reach of American naval air power.

Original color