HOW MY FATHER BECAME AN AMERICAN, WWII VETERAN & LEGENDARY PHOTOGRAPHER By David Vaccaro My fathers family immigrated from Italy in the late 1800s. Dad was born on December 20, 1922 as Michelantonio Celestino Onofrio Vaccaro and later became known as Tony Vaccaro or Anthony A. Vaccaro. He became a Private First Class which was the Squad Leader of the group or point man and served from 1943 to September 1945. He was one of the few photographers that carried a gun. They didnt allow soldiers to be given cameras in Europe, you had to bring it with you from America. He took pictures on his own, often from inside the foxhole from Normandy to Berlin. He served with the Intel Platoon of the 83rd Infantry Division, 331 Regiment, Headquarters company, because he spoke so many languages, like seven. He participated in D-Day but landed on the beaches on June 19th-20th because of a storm. He fought in the Calvados, Brittany, St. Malo, Luxembourg, Hurtgen Forest, Ardennes, Central Germany and The Battle of the Bulge. All in all, he fought in 5 campaigns and was part of a unit that crossed the Elbe River into Eastern Europe, and fought against the Russians. I studied war because I saw my dads photos growing up and then I was able to write a detailed book on the war. It was my training for war, a war that never came for me. Dad also has at least 5 museums in Europe showcasing his photography soon to be more. They gave him a castle in his hometown of Bonefro, Italy to be made into a museum. Below is one of his famous photographs of a soldier kissing a child. Dad became a legendary war photographer, philosopher, author and friend to many. His pictures captured the German occupation after the war, like no other photographer. You can see by the photograph the German soldier returning home, only to find that his family and home are gone. He is an eloquent man who took thoughtful and melancholy photographs which have become world renowned and can be viewed our website @ pic-war Dad is 92 now and said that he also served with Patton three times. He used to collect cigarettes to trade for photo supplies and did the same thing with liquors and wine bottles. They were not allowed to keep a diary, but my father had a small one, where he made notations of battles and scenes in his Italian dialect that could not be translated. Sometimes he got permission to move from unit to unit. He escaped getting caught quite a few times. He just missed getting the Bronze Star. At the end of the war, a new photographer came up and received the award, instead of him, so he didnt really get recognized. There was a Regimental newspaper too that he worked on throughout the war, and then he worked for Stars and Stripes after the war, staying in Europe until 1949. Dad returned home and became a photographer of famous people and fashion. The book, Picture Peace, is coming soon with parts 1 and 2 and is the follow up to Picture War (parts 1-4) and tells the story of Dads travels during the reconstruction of post war Europe. ~ David Vaccaro, Author We are very grateful to David for sharing these photos and his fathers story. Please share your family photos of those who served, so we may feature and honor them on Comes A Soldiers Whisper, where we are all connected. God Bless all who serve and keep us safe. Facebook Veteran Stories: https://facebook/ComesASoldierswhisper WWII Letters: ComesASoldiersWhisper Vietnam Letters: VietnamAndBeyond Twitter: @Jennylas
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 07:50:30 +0000
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