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"ABOUT THE "G" COMPANY PHOTO
COLLECTION"
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It may seem unusual, but the photograph albums which many troopers of the 503d have kept down through the years have in common a number of identical photographs. This has occurred beyond the simple expedient of printing extra photos and trading them between ourselves.
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It
was at Demaguete, and it was my last day with �G� Company. I had
been selected to return home on the point system.
I�d
had a number of cameras during my time overseas, Jap cameras, and had
used the film in them, and discarded them when the film ran out. I had
been using an 8 mm movie camera but was out of film. The camera was
the type that you could run the film through twice, and when I had
time I would go to the air field and get 16 mm film. After shooting it
in one direction, I could rewind it by hand, and reload it under a
poncho. Most of the film would never make it home, the government
�borrowing� it from me. I received a letter shortly after coming
home stating that my pictures were being held �until the cessation
of hostilities with Japan.�
Apparently, there are some public servants who are still
unaware that military hostilities have ceased. I never tried to get
the film.
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While
gathering my personal belongings together, someone (probably Trooper
Walter Jaco) suggested that we get a picture of the 3rd platoon with
one of my cameras.
The only camera available belonged to Mike Levac. I went to Mike and asked if we could use the camera, he agreed and we proceeded to set up the shot using flags that I and others collected during our time in battle, including the Jap garrison flag from Corregidor.
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Mike
took the first shot of the third platoon, then other groups wanted in
on the act so we wound up getting pictures of the whole battalion,
including the officers active at that time. Upon completion of the
picture taking Mike removed the film from the camera and handed it to
me, my plan was to carry it home have the film developed, and then
distribute sets of the pictures to the members of G. Co.
Later
that day Mike came to me and explained that he was in the photography
business in the States and if I would allow him he would develop the
group pictures and supply a set to any member of G. Co. that wanted a
set. I was reluctant at first but Mike followed with the promise that
he would return the negatives to me. I didn�t want to be losing the negatives, but with that promise I gave him the film.
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The idea of him being able to develop the film gave me another idea. In my barracks bag I had five rolls of film that I had been carrying, dating back to Hollandia. These films were mixed � at the start of the rolls there were Jap photos, I assumed, for they owned the cameras. Then there were my photos, as I used up the film that was left in them. I offered this film to Mike if he would include it with the group shots and make it available to the G. Co. members. He agreed and I asked him if he would also let the guys know where the film came from. He agreed to this too.
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Whether
by accident or otherwise,
I never saw the negatives again. Six rolls. Mike survived the
war, and sent me a set of the pictures. I did receive a set of
pictures, or what I expected was a set, because I had no way of
knowing if they were all the photos on the films. But Mike had been
good to his word, and I had photos � but no negatives.
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Mike
didn�t jump on the Corregidor mission. He was assigned by some
guardian angel to stand in the doorway of a C-47 and take pictures.
Ah, the life of the photographer! Some of his shots turned out very
good, and are displayed here in the G. Co. Collection. The balance of
the Corregidor pictures were taken by me, using cameras removed from
dead Japs as we moved forward. One I shall never forget, though, was a three shot series of Nick Baldassarre standing over what I assumed was his kill of two Nips in a bomb crater, who had fallen in a somewhat homosexual position. The shot was taken just to the left of the road leading down to north dock. I paused long enough to take the pictures and then proceed across bottomside and around Malinta Hill. In the interests of history, I�ve asked Paul not to display THAT one.
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Over the years, I�ve had a single desire in dealing with the photos, and that has been to make them available to the members of G. Co. On one occasion, a national photographic chain that I had approached to get copies made of them offered me a good sum ($5000) for the pictures, but I declined to give them the rights to exploit them commercially. I will not allow them to be sold. My grandson will get them when I die, and I hope that he understands what it means to have something of great value, but to hold it in trust for heritage. It�s not an easy lesson for kids to learn these �instant gratification� days.
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At
the Myrtle Beach reunion some years ago,
John Helms (Burr Head) accused me �of trying to steal Mike
Levac�s thunder.� The unfairness of the comment hurt me, I�ll
admit, to the point that I resigned from the association rather than
argue the point.
I tried to contact Mike. I wrote letters and tried to contact
him by phone all to no avail. I finally gave up and for several years
had no contact with the Association. Fate plays tricks on us. I found, in the end, that although Mike Levac had made it home, he�d eventually made one plane trip too many. He was killed in a plane crash several years after the war, whilst taking pictures of an earthquake in Mexico.
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What
happened to the negatives when he was killed,
well I can�t ever say. I hope they�re around somewhere, not
destroyed by some widow or grandchild who didn�t realize their
historic worth. Unfortunately, all too many negatives just get lost in
the sands of time.
I
encourage you, if you are concerned that your children or
grand-children cannot keep your collection together �in trust�, to
make a provision in your will donating it to the 503d Association. At
the end of the line, there will be a worthwhile museum, I trust.
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My
desire to make the photos available to the members of G. Co. is the
reason why I jumped at Paul Whitman�s suggestion that the photos be
put on the Internet. That�s why I asked him to name them The G. Co.
Collection. Now the world has them.
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