USMC Combat Correspondent WW II

[USMCWayne]

Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, with the lack of news coming out of the Marines' heroic stand on Wake Island, the Marine Corps recognized the need to have more news and photography emanating from the combat zones, and more assistance to civilian news media in getting into these combat areas and reporting the actions to the American people.

The Marines newly established Department of Public Relations set about establishing a special recruiting program that was to cause great consternation in Washington, DC, media circles.


The promise made to reporters in Washington, DC was "You'll get combat duty and Sergeant stripes if you can successfully complete boot training at Parris Island." There were plenty of takers with the combat guarantee and the program was so successful that it practically denuded every city room in the capitol.

Numerous complaints followed, including one to President Roosevelt. Roosevelt passed the complaint to the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Public Affairs was directed to do future recruiting outside of DC.


The combat correspondent program was so successful that the concept remains today — exclusive to the U.S. Marine Corps — and Combat Correspondents continue to "tell it like it is" wherever Marines see action.

Sgt Gus is kitted out as a member of the 2nd Photographic Division at Tarawa in 1943, which won an Academy Award for Best Short Documentary for With the Marines at Tarawa.


SSgt Norman Hatch became one of the foremost Marine photographers at Tarawa. Hatch was one of many Marines who were forced to wade ashore from 400 yards out, when his LCVP went aground on D-Day. Using a 3-lens Eyemo, Hatch’s footage included the rare shot of 2 Marines firing at Japanese in the same frame, and of Medal of Honor winner 1st Lieutenant Alexander Bonnyman Jr’s assault on a Japanese bombproof on D+2.

Of the 15 Marine Corps photographers at Tarawa, two were killed and another was wounded.


Most people are aware of the two flag raisings on Mt. Suribachi on Iwo Jima, and how Marines Bob Campbell and Lou Lowery, and the AP’s Joe Rosenthal, captured the two events with still cameras. But I’d bet not very many are aware that Marine Bill Genaust filmed the second (and more famous) flag raising with his Eyemo movie camera, thus providing much of the clarification of who the actual flag-raisers were.

http://www.iwojima.com/clips/index.htm



The work of combat correspondents and photographers on Iwo was turned into the 1945 Academy Award nominee To The Shores of Iwo Jima for Best Documentary Short.

The movie camera of choice for combat cameramen was the Bell and Howell Eyemo Model Q 35 mm hand camera. Designed and first manufactured in the late 1920's, the Eyemo was for many years the most compact 35mm motion picture camera available. Its small size and ruggedness made it a favorite choice for newsreel and combat cameramen, and also found use for fiction and documentary filmmakers whenever a portable, rugged, and inconspicuous camera was needed.

The Eyemo is still in use by filmmakers to this day, often used as a "crash cam" for filming dangerous stunts and explosions, and shots where the camera must be dropped from a building or other elevation.

Practically indestructible, the Eyemo was a spring drive camera with a 100 foot load, which lasted a little over a minute when used at the standard 24 frames per second.

Cameramen had to be extremely careful and conscious of every shot remembering the extremely limited nature of their film load.

The Eyemo came in a number of models ranging from a simple single lens version through three different lens turret models. The Q had a spider turret with a facility for accurate focusing through a rear mounted prism and a mount to take a 400 ft magazine with an auxiliary 12 volt motor.

Rugged enough to stop a bullet, the Eyemo probably saved the lives of many cameramen. A saying resonated among the troops that “The brave ones were shooting the enemy. The crazy ones were shooting film.”

[Zeke_Stone]

Looking good, Is that a face repaint? Its a good looking head, quite an interesting subject bash. Well done on gathering all the items for it.

[Quad.50]

Very cool figure and interesting subject!

[Tung]

great work Wayne! And of course the awesome research work done is always the best.

Tung

[wangerbanger]

is 'sgt gus' gustav magnor?

nice bash of a unique subject. i like it!

[mikoyan29]

That is very cool. You're research on all things Marine is top notch. Definately a different type of bash...

[hatman]

Extremely nice job on an overlooked subject

[pukingdog]

Daaaaamn, Wayne, I'm guessing you built that camera? It doesn't look homemade, but what's the odds one would be made in onesix? A great figure and great history, I know those shots you speak of.

[slyster]

A great tribute to some great marines. Looking through a viewfinder while being shelled and shot at without any real way to defend yourself, some real crazy bastards but without them we would never see what combat is like.

[USMCWayne]

Thanks. The Eyemo is handmade.

The Eyemo took me about a week to ten days of off and on work.

I gathered all of the on-line resources I could, including as many photos of Eyemos in period photos and for sale sites.

The period shots were needed to ensure the camera I was building was to scale. The for sale stuff, and related closeups, were needed to determine the markings, build, and attachments of the camera.

Then it was a matter of sculping pieces, such as the lenses, the spider mount, the viewfinders, and such out of Sculpy. Baking the pieces for 30 minutes at 250 degrees. Super-gluing everything together and the reqisite repairs as I broke pieces while over-doing the trimming with my Dremel.

The front of each lens is a piece of cut-out round plastic, glued into the lens, so they'll reflect light like a real lens front.

The controls are from a web site which had an Eyemo for sale. It was the better of two side views I was able to find of the Eyemo, and I just experimented with the resizing the image, until I got one that was pretty close to 1/6th scale.

Lately, instead of complaining about what isn't being made, I've been trying to replicate some of the items I want in 1/6th, using mainly Sculpy and a bit of research and effort.

Next up, maybe a Speed Graphic for a still photo WW II photographer.

[USMCWayne]

...and yes, it is Gustav Magnor, weathered my normal way, by rubbing his sculpt with Covergirl eye makeup, darkening his three day old facial growth and giving his hace a bit more color and tanned look.

After I'm sort of done, I spray the sculpt with Testor's Dullcote to cut down on the normal plastic shine, and touch up as necessary.

[USMCWayne]

BTW, here's a shot of SSgt Hatch at Tarawa

[pukingdog]

Originally posted by USMCWayne
Thanks. The Eyemo is handmade.....Lately, instead of complaining about what isn't being made, I've been trying to replicate some of the items I want in 1/6th, using mainly Sculpy and a bit of research and effort....

You are definitely the MAN! Your effort's outdone only by your attitude.

[Pivot]

Fantastic figure. A true work of craftsmanship, in any scale.

[GoKings57]

Dammit, Wayne, everytime I think I've got a complete list of what USMC figures I want to bash, you come out with a new figure that I add to my list!!!! Oh, and this figure is amazing!!!!

[Hardcase01]

First, thanks for the History behind the figure. A fanastic report on a facinating subject.

Secondly, What a great figure! The camera is superb and the details are truly eye catching. Damn nice work Wayne.

[laughingravy2]

Nothing more to be said. You know you da man. The whole package is first-rate soopah. Your skills are exceptional.

I can't help but wonder what an entire suit made of Eyemos would be like to wear...I mean, if they're indestructible and all.......

[romedome]

Fantastic figure made even more so by the scratch-built Eyemo. Incredible