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PITeam27

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About PITeam27

  • Birthday 10/12/1964

Information

  • Aircraft
    Arrow
  • Location
    MN
  • Country
    USA

PITeam27's Achievements

  1. Our family of nations is important for so many reasons. Those unwavering bonds remain; we have a problem at the top on our end right now, but we're working hard to fix it and appreciate the support we've received as we do.
  2. That was a time of great sacrifice, and I think it's too bad so many people today no longer understand what our families went through. There was no such thing as selfish then. A Perfect example is the RMS Queen Elizabeth's initial voyages as a troop ship. In 1941 the British gave her to us (US), she was then first used to take 5,000 Australian troops to North Africa to help the British around March 1941 (perhaps your father was one of them), at a time of great peril to Australia from Japan - so to help with that situation we sent 8,000 US troops back to Sydney in early 1942. Then we used her to transport a huge number of US troops to Britain 1943-45. The Queen Elizabeth's voyages are a great example of good friends in the world. George
  3. I've come to the conclusion the significant contributions made by the photo intelligence organization, from aerial camera to front line briefing, is one of the most unrecognized in WWII. It played a critical role in everything we did from D-Day onward. The 30th Infantry Division was named by SLA Marshall as the top American division of WWII, the Germans called it "FDR's SS", and the Division commanders documented the critical importance of photo intelligence in their operational success. As I've researched the interpretation side so deeply, one thing in particular has jumped out at me. The American commanders in their post-WWII histories have gone to great lengths to thank, and provide recognition to, the British, Canadians, and Australians who created the US photo interpretation program; the strength of these commanders beliefs shown through their comments is evident. My father talked about having to go up in observation planes to take pictures himself when necessary. I have the Kodak 35mm he used to do it still. The plane below is likely the actual one from the 30th ID that he flew in - I believe it's a Stinson L-5 Sentinel. From the stories I've found about the pilot, I'm guessing those recon flights were an adventure!
  4. Thank you for posting this video. My father was the consumer of the photos the pilot took - he was on a military intelligence service photo interpretation team attached to the 30th Infantry Division. They analyzed the photos and used them to create large scale mosaics, artillery targeting information, and to brief troops before they went out on patrol or other large attacks. Thanks again, George
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