[World War II Photographica]: [Curran, John T.]:

$950 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

[VERNACULAR PHOTOGRAPH ALBUM OF IMAGES BY A UNITED STATES ARMY SOLDIER STATIONED AT CAMP PARAISO NEAR THE PANAMA CANAL DURING THE EARLY YEARS OF WORLD WAR II, SHOWING THEIR TRAINING BASE, MILITARY ... A personal photo album of mostly original images, compiled by a soldier serving in the United States 5th Infantry stationed at the Panama Canal at the outbreak of World War II. The Canal Zone would become vital to the American war effort and was one of the most important strategic locations in the hemisphere. In 1939, Camp Paraiso (which had been abandoned a few years earlier) was reinstated as a military base, and the 5th Infantry constructed barracks, a post office, a movie theater, and other structures that contributed to its becoming one of the primary settlements in the Canal Zone after the war.The soldier who created this album was likely Irish-American John T. Curran, based on an ink stamp on the front cover. The soldier was a native of Maine who was stationed at Camp Paraiso from 1939 to 1940. He has captured a variety of images, including of troop transports and battleships as they travel through the Canal, the crews of those ships visiting the base, soldiers in and out of uniform in camp, at mess, drilling, constructing buildings, or relaxing, fighter planes in a nearby field, and even a Catholic mass in the ruins of the Convento de San José, built in 1612. A particularly interesting series of photos depicts U.S. Army soldiers on a relief mission, providing food and su

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