Monday, February 23, 2009

Album Page - Five Lost Photographs

Here are five photographs that were glued to the inside back cover of a family photo album. They don't seem related to the rest of the album...

or are they?

They are obviously taken during the World War 2, in the South Seas somewhere.

Perhaps the appearance of the LST-658 will help identify the time, the place and maybe the who.

C'est la guerre la guerre, WW2
Other war related
photographs
are here.

CLICK HERE to RETURN to
THE MAIN INDEX PAGE

Crew in the South Seas
Here is a healthy crew of men, soldiers, friends.
Where were they?
Where are they now?
Who are they?
LST in water
A row of Tank Landing Ships on the beach.
LST 658
A closer view shows a little more detail.
LST 658 sits with others on the beach.

From the comment section below comes this additional information:
Wallace Beasley, was chief petty officer on LST-658
Paul Prinzivalli, served on LST-658
Bob Murnahan might be associated with LST-658
LST 658 was laid down on 28 December 1943 at Ambridge, Pa., by the American Bridge Co.; launched on 13 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Joseph R. McDonald; and commissioned on 17 April 1944.

During World War II, LST-658 was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific theater and participated in the following operations:

Capture and occupation of southern Palau Islands—September and October 1944 Leyte landings—October and November 1944
Lingayen Gulf landing—January 1945
Assault and occupation of Okinawa Gunto—April 1945
Following the war, LST-658 performed occupation duty in the Far East and saw service in China until late May 1946. She was decommissioned on 1 June 1946. The ship was transferred to the State Department for disposition and struck from the Navy list on 3 July 1946.

LST 658 earned four battle stars for World War II service.
LST 658
The above picture of LST 658 is from HERE.
I have been unable so far to locate the owner of this photo.
The shape of the numbers differs slightly but the mottling on the hull matches pretty well.

The above three photographs are stamped with the same photo studio imprint. The next two, although the same size, are not. They are apparently from other sets.

Airplane in sky
Unidentified aircraft. Are those tracer bullet streaks?
Island basketball
Two guys play basketball during a slow period in a tropical paradise.


Can't get enough?
For more rescued photographs related to war and military matters,
click
SHOW ME MORE!
Then click "OLDER POSTS" for even more.


CLICK HERE to RETURN to THE MAIN INDEX PAGE

Or select another category below ...

Now, completely extinct Spy, legsThe Short Stirling A very rare airplane.

And don't miss Penny Tales The best FOUND PHOTOGRAPH site on the web.

C'est la guerre WWII, World War 2,
How we remember.

Five photographs from the Pacific Theater
LST 658 From the back cover of a photo album, five photographs from the war zone.

The AAF
Somewhere in England 1944
P61 Black Widow, AAF Here is a fine collection of WW2 Aircraft Photographs
and some added attractions from 1944, England.

The Navy A-6 Intruder
A-6 Navy Intruder Here is a fine collection of five photographs of the Navy A-6 Intruder

10 comments:

  1. My 87 year old father, Wallace Beasley, was chief petty officer on LST-658 in the Pacific during WWII. The ship was involved in many invasions, including Leyete Gulf, Luzon, and Peleliu. From viewing the photograph he is unable to tell exactly where LST-658 was in that shot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks very much for your comment and help. I have learned that the names Robert F. Murnahan or Paul Vincent (Bud) Clark might be associated with these five pictures. Is either of those names familiar?

    ReplyDelete
  3. My father, Paul Prinzivalli, served on LST-658. I was researching to try to find photographs of his ship, and found the same or similar photograph in a Flickr album indicating the location is Cairns, in Queensland, Australia, some time in May 1945.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you very much for the excellent comment. I will update the page to reflect this new information and some other things that have accumulated.

    Adding the names and other information next to the picture will give more tags for browser searches and perhaps more connections can be made.

    Many of the LST vehicles have lots of information on them. This one does not. I am glad I was able to provide a photograph for you. Perhaps we can eventually find where it was taken and know a little more.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My father said that he remembers Paul Prinzivalli and that he was a "good guy". His comment when I called was "Hell yes I knew Prinzivalli." Everyone was called by their last name on the ship. At the end of the war my father as Chief returned to the states with 13 of his men off of LST-658 one of who was Paul Prinzivalli. They were taken by transport ship somewhere in the far Pacific to Goat Island in San Francisco Bay. The transport ship with it's crew was to leave from Goat Island to be a part of an A-Bomb test somewhere in the Pacific. None of the crew wanted to go, however if they could get someone to agree to go in their place then they did not have to go. Money was offered to my father and his 13 crew members to take their place. It's a long story, and Paul Prinzivalli and my father were involved. In the end they did not go to be guinea pigs. The war was over and they were home. My father wishes to know if Mr. Prinzivalli is still alive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My father is still alive and sends his regards to Mr. Beasley.

    ReplyDelete
  7. My father, Charles Bunnell served on LST658 as storekeeper 1st class. I have some pictures as well as many many letters he wrote home. Is there a website that I could put the pictures on?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kerry Iorio. I think you can post up to 100 photographs on Flickr for free. After they are stored there, they can be used to form a Blogger page such as this one, also free. If you wish I can add them to this page too.

      Delete
    2. thanks, will do Flickr. I have a bunch of pictures.

      Delete
  8. I would like to see these photos of LST-658

    ReplyDelete

Stuff

Blog Archive

Followers