WWI Combat Veteran Portrait Photo – Peter Pizzolongo, 77th Division, 305th Infantry Regiment

December 3, 2013December 3, 2013 / portraitsofwar / 3 Comments

Peter Pizzolongo

The majority of my World War One portrait collection are comprised of quality shots depicting unidentified soldiers posing for the camera in France or Germany. Very rarely do I have a penciled name on the reverse with enough detail to make a 100% positive ID. In this rare case, I was able to make an identification based on insignia and a faint scribble on a gas mask bag.

Gas Mask Identification

At first I wasn’t able to make out the exact details of the name. The soldier was clearly with the 77th Division based on his painted helmet with the Statue of Liberty insignia, and the 305 Inf. was easy to make out on the bag. I checked the collar discs on both men and was able to make out an I, telling me that the men were both with I Company. From there, I tracked down (luckily) a web-based roster for the 305th Infantry. It can be found here: 305th Infantry Roster

The name on the bag clearly stated a P. P…….go. I didn’t have much to go on but was astounded to find a perfect match on the roster website! Peter Pizzolongo.

Peter Pizzolongo and Friend

Peter was born in 1896 in Larino Campobasso, Italy and came over to the US in the early 1900s. What’s funny is that I can’t find his immigration records online but did find that he traveled back from Italy in 1955 on board the S.S. Independence along with his wife, Ida.

1955 Italy Trip

Of interest to me is his WWI service record. His draft card gives his exact birthdate – June 29th, 1895. His listed profession at the time was Piano Maker; his Italian hometown matches perfectly with his WWI service record, so we know it’s accurate. As of June, 1917 he worked with a company named Ricca & Son at 89 Southern Boulvard, Bronx, NY. At the time he lived at 425 East 116th Street in Manhattan and wasn’t legally registered as an American citizen. He initially signed up with the 165th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Division. It makes sense given his NY area residency at the time. He was they transferred over to the 305th Infantry Regiment of the 77th Division. He made it overseas on April 16th, 1918 and served overseas for an entire year before leaving on April 24th, 1919. He was gassed once on August 15th, 1918 during the Battle of the Marne at Fismes. Please see a quick excerpt from the official 305th Infantry Regiment unit history here: 305th History

August, 1918

We know from his records that he was out of commission for 8 days before returning to his unit on August 23rd. He became sick (unknown reason, likely gas related) on September 5th, 1918. He rejoined the unit on the 16th after being in the hospital for 11 days. What a trooper! I’ve attached a few of the web-based documents I’ve found through my search. Hopefully his family will one day find this site and learn a little more about their WWI relative!

WWI Service Record

WWI Draft Card

WWI Portrait Photo – WWI Pilot Walter V. Monger of Benson, Vermont

November 27, 2013 / portraitsofwar / 5 Comments

World War One Vermonter photos are far and few between, so I always jump on the opportunity to add one to my growing collection. Today’s portrait photo recently arrived in the mail from a fellow collector who discovered it at an estate sale on the West Coast. This crisp and clear 8×10 portrait was sadly damaged during shipping but still retains it’s incredible details depicting the bullion wings and cap insignia.

Walter Monger WWI Portrait

Walter V. Monger was born on December 18th, 1892 and passed away on October 18th, 1975. I’ve tracked down a number of documents on Ancestry.com that can be viewed below:

WWI Draft Registration Card

WWII Draft Registration

1919 School Photo

WWI 37th Division Chaplain Portrait – William P. O’Connor, American Legion National Catholic Chaplain

November 13, 2013November 13, 2013 / portraitsofwar / Leave a comment

Identified chaplain photos have become incredibly popular in the past few years given the ramp-up effort to prepare for the 100 year anniversary of WWI. I’ve made an effort to scoop up as many interesting chaplain photos as possible to share here on PortraitsofWar to help spread the word about the U.S. involvement in the war. A recent eBay duel landed me with a top-notch portrait of a 37th Division (primarily Ohio based division) chaplain posed with his WWI Victory Medal and uniform. The inscription on the bottom ends with a crude signature. I was able to do my typical google, ancestry.com, Library of Congress and Fold3 search to come up with a 100% positive identification.

Lt. William O’Connor

William Patrick O’ Connor was born in Dayton, Ohio on October 7th, 1889 to John and Elizabeth (Kenney) O’Connor. He attended the University of Dayton for his B.A. and followed up with seminary school at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati. He was ordained in 1913 and served as Curate at Urbana, Ohio, 1913-117; later paston, Church of the Assumption in Cincinnati(Source). William O’Connor has the distinction of being the first Ohio priest to enter the army following the declaration of war in 1917.Father O’Connor served as chaplain with Battery F, 136th Field Artillery as part of the 37th “Buckeye” Division during WWI. At the time of the portrait, he was the chaplain of the 107th Cavalry of the Ohio National Guard. I was lucky enough to track down a 1918 article with a direct quotation from Rev. O’Connor:

“…………… I take this occasion to thank the Knights of Columbus of Cincinnati for their exceeding kindness and consideration to the Chaplain, and to thank all the people of Ohio for their kindness to the soldier boys.

With best wishes, in J.M.J. I am, sincerely yours,

William P. O’Connor,

First Lt. 136th Field Artillery Chaplain”

http://arc.stparchive.com/Archive/ARC/ARC02161918p08.php

Father O’Connor was elected National Chaplain of the American Legion after the third ballot and was in a tight heat with Rev. Ezra Clemmons of Iowa and Rev. Roy Tucker of Baton Rouge, LA. For more info check out the following site: http://arc.stparchive.com/Archive/ARC/ARC11041922p05.php

Newspaper Clipping of Father O’Connor, 1922

58 Ringgold St, Dayton Ohio

And where he lived in Dayton, Ohio

WWI University of Vermont US Army Training Photo – Central Campus by Louis McAllister

November 3, 2013November 14, 2013 / portraitsofwar / 1 Comment

US Army Training Detachment at UVM 1918

My collection of Louis McAllister WWI Photos has grown to include three more shots taken during the WWI training period at UVM in 1918. McAllister was known to have taken panoramic photos of each individual training company in front of Williams Hall. I have shots of Company B and Company C. The photo seen above appear to be all the companies posed together with a series of US Army trucks behind Old Mill and Williams Hall in September of 1918. The panoramics were part of a series of shots I recently purchased from a seller in Rutland, Vermont. The group can be attributed to a WWI veteran named Theodore Maher, a mechanic who served with both the 336th Tank Battalion as well as the 339th Tank Battalion during WWI. A fantastic find!

WWI Nurse Photo Identified – Massachusetts Female Veteran in France, 1918 Base Hospital #6

October 22, 2013 / portraitsofwar / 2 Comments

I’ve been lucky in the past few weeks to pick up some fun WWI shots of US female nurses and auxiliary service members. US women in France were outnumbered by the men, and to be able to positively identify a nurse is a fun way to learn about female service roles during the war. In this case, I was able to purchase a small group of photos and a Thanksgiving menu from a woman in Base Hospital #6 stationed in Bordeaux, France during the war. The standing studio portrait was identified on the reverse as HK Judd of Base Hospital 6. On a whim I searched for Helen K. Judd (thinking that Helen was a likely candidate for H) and came up with a positive hit on a woman named Helen K. Judd from Southhampton, Mass. I cross referenced with the digitized passport records from 1917 and 1918 and had a positive match. Luckily the passport applications come with little snapshots of the applicants. The amount of material available to identify WWI photos is incredible.

J. Sereni Studio Portrait of Helen

1917 Passport Photo of Helen

1918 Passport Photo of Helen

Physical Description

Passport Application Info

Base Hospital #6 Thanksgiving Menu

WWI Wounded Marine RPPC – Belleau Wood Navy Cross Recipient – Jacob Heckman, 5th Marine Regiment

October 12, 2013 / portraitsofwar / Leave a comment

My favorite World War One photo in my collection has to be the following real photo postcard shot taken in Paris in December of 1918. The content and context of the photo – three wounded officers posing in a French studio before being sent home – is good enough to grace the “top shelf” of any WWI photo collection. The fact that they are named on the reverse makes it all the more interesting. For the purpose of this post, I will identify one of the officers and track down his service history.

Jacob H. Heckman(L)

Heckman is included in the hall of heroes for American Jewish Military History: http://www.nmajmh.org/exhibitions/catalog-hallOfHeroes/cat41.php

Here’s a transcription of the above entry:

Second Lieutenant Jacob H. Heckman, USMC

For extraordinary heroism in action in the Bois de Belleau, France, June 25th, 1918. With the assisting three sergeants, he started out to destroy the final stand of enemy in the Bois de Belleau, an impregnable position, where enemy guns were concealed by rocks and heavy shrubbery. Armed with only a pistol, he rushed the nest, which was offering the most violent resistance, and captured one officer and ninety men. Each of his men destroyed a nest and captured two of the enemy at each position. After effecting the complete reduction of the last element, he marched his prisoners in under a severe and harassing fire of the retreating enemy.

And from the following blog: http://boatagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2008/06/this-day-in-world-war-i-history-marines.html

Perhaps an even more astonishing example of heroism was provided by First Lieutenant Jacob Harrison Heckman, whose actions on June 25 were just one of many examples of courage up and down the line that day that secured victory. His citation reads as follows:

The Distinguished Service Cross is presented to Jacob Harrison Heckman, First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism while serving with the 5th Regiment (Marines), 2d Division, A.E.F. in action in the Bois-de-Belleau, France, June 25, 1918 resistance, and captured one officer and ninety men. Each of his men destroyed a nest and captured two of the enemy at each po. With the assistance of three sergeants, Lieutenant Heckman started out to destroy the final stand of the enemy in the Bois-de-Belleau, an impregnable position, where enemy guns were concealed by rocks and heavy shrubbery. Armed with only a pistol, Lieutenant Heckman rushed the nest which was offering the most violent sition. After effecting the complete reduction of the last element, Lieutenant Heckman marched his prisoners in under a severe and harassing fire of the retreating enemy.

WWI Photo Discovery – Norton-Harjes Ambulance Drivers w/ Richard Norton!

September 29, 2013February 7, 2015 / portraitsofwar / 2 Comments

I often check eBay listings for groups of assorted black and white photos in the hopes of discovering some exciting WWI material hidden in the mix. In this case, I was lucky enough to recognize the uniforms and insignia of the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps amidst the piles of junk photos. An astoundingly cheap $20.00 Buy-it-Now option was on the photos, so I purchased them without haste. What a rare treat! Scroll down for cropped versions of the photo.

US Ambulance Drivers in France

This is possibly one of the clearest shots of Richard Norton I’ve seen in a digital form on the internet. Norton was the son of an influential Harvard archaeologist named Charles Norton who bankrolled a group of well-to-do American men to travel to France to assist in the movement of wounded soldiers from the battlefields. In this photo we see Norton posed with his fur overcoat, swagger stick and uniform. I’m guessing this photo was taken to depict a certain group of men overseas at the time. My best educated guess is that it was a photo taken of all the Harvard men in the Ambulance Corps at the time. Who knows?

Richard Norton

E.E. Cummings?

Edward Estlin Cummings
1917 Passport Application for travel to join the Norton-Harjes Ambulance Corps

WWI Portrait Photo – Italian Born US Soldier 1st Mobile Veterinary Hospital Farrier

September 7, 2013September 7, 2013 / portraitsofwar / 1 Comment

John Belli in WWI

John Belli was born in Italy in 1895 and traveled to the United States during a big wave of Italian immigration in the early 1900s. I was lucky enough to purchase a superlative WWI German-shot studio portrait of a helmeted US soldier wearing his gas mask with patches attached to his jacket. To sweeten the deal, the photo came identified to a John Belli. A few John Belli’s appeared on ancestry.com, but only one was associated with a veterinarian unit as evidenced by the veterinarian corps collar disc visible in the photo. A great shot with an interesting back story!

John Belli Service Card

John Belli Draft Card

VJ Day in Hawaii – August 14th, 1945 Caught on Film!

August 28, 2013August 28, 2013 / portraitsofwar / Leave a comment

Visit discoveringhawaii.com for color stills from this amazing day, and other Hawaii-related films. I have over one hour of beautiful Kodachome 16mm movie footage filmed by my Dad on VJ Day and the three weeks following, which was always intended to be expanded into a documentary, “The Day World War II Ended.”

WWI Middlebury, Vermont Soldier Photo – 102nd Field Artillery – Curtis J. Sawyer

August 27, 2013August 27, 2013 / portraitsofwar / 1 Comment

My passion for WWI Vermont material is endless and I make every effort to track down unique, original photos and objects related to Vermonters in the Great War. It’s not easy to find and often comes at a price; 26th Division material is popular with French collectors and fetches a high price when purchased on eBay. In this case, I was able to purchase a studio photo of a 102nd Field Artillery Vermonter of Battery A . Curtis J. Sawyer was born in Middlebury, VT on September 13th, 1893 – nearly 120 years ago!

He worked at hotels most of his life, having worked at Clark’s Hotel in Boston in 1917 when he registered for the draft. Previously he served as a clerk for City Hall in Barre, VT – not far from where I work! He started his career early at the age of 17 (at least) and worked as a clerk and hotel man unit his death. He is listed as being tall with a slender complextion with blue eyes and brown hair. He lived nearly 90 years and died in 1980 in Arlington, MA – not far from Boston.