Behind the Picture: ‘Three Dead Americans,’ Buna Beach, 1943 (1 Viewer)

[BLReed]

From Life Magazine. In the upper right corner there are 35 pages.



"Guadalcanal. Iwo Jima. Saipan. These names, and others from the Pacific Theater during World War II, serve as a kind of brutal shorthand for scenes of unspeakable carnage and, at times, unfathomable courage.

But for reasons lost to the decades, countless other pivotal battles in the Pacific have been largely forgotten by most of the world — even as they’re remembered and commemorated by the dwindling number of those still alive who fought in them, and by those who lost husbands, brothers, fathers and friends to the war. The long, long, three-and-half-year New Guinea Campaign, for example, saw scores of battles as bloody and as strategically vital as any others fought during WWII, but the names and places of many of those battles and the places strike no chord with the general public.

Here, LIFE.com recalls one of those pivotal battles, the Battle of Buna-Gona, through pictures made by the master photojournalist George Strock — including one of the most famous and influential photographs ever taken in any war, anywhere: the disquieting image of three dead Americans half-buried in the sand at a place called Buna Beach.

http://life.time.com/history/wwii-buna-beach-iconic-photo-of-three-dead-americans/#1

 

[TomB]

From Life Magazine. In the upper right corner there are 35 pages.

View attachment 137636

"Guadalcanal. Iwo Jima. Saipan. These names, and others from the Pacific Theater during World War II, serve as a kind of brutal shorthand for scenes of unspeakable carnage and, at times, unfathomable courage.

But for reasons lost to the decades, countless other pivotal battles in the Pacific have been largely forgotten by most of the world — even as they’re remembered and commemorated by the dwindling number of those still alive who fought in them, and by those who lost husbands, brothers, fathers and friends to the war. The long, long, three-and-half-year New Guinea Campaign, for example, saw scores of battles as bloody and as strategically vital as any others fought during WWII, but the names and places of many of those battles and the places strike no chord with the general public.

Here, LIFE.com recalls one of those pivotal battles, the Battle of Buna-Gona, through pictures made by the master photojournalist George Strock — including one of the most famous and influential photographs ever taken in any war, anywhere: the disquieting image of three dead Americans half-buried in the sand at a place called Buna Beach.

http://life.time.com/history/wwii-buna-beach-iconic-photo-of-three-dead-americans/#1

Something else no doubt forgotten...The US parachuted into the Markham valley in one campaign...they kicked a Troop or so of Aust Arty out the door too...The japs had a large airstrip there...I think the valley is about 50 miles out side of Lae...nothing there now (1966)..completely stripped and overgrown mostly....they only thing we found was tarmac and the odd ground evidence that indicated a airstrip and some very corroded C47 engine mountings which were useless for anything...no doubt that was why they were still there...Aust fought in NG also...TomB