In honor of Veteran’s Day, it’s appropriate to recognize ASC members who served our country.
Though I’ve done my best, this list is limited and incomplete. It’s made up of people with whom I’ve personally spoken; other names and information have been gleaned from various sources over the years. I intend no disrespect to anyone who does not appear here. If I have inadvertently left out your name, contact me and I will immediately correct the record.
Nonetheless, thank you to everyone who ever raised their hand and took the oath. Would that every citizen properly recognizes the debt that is owed to you!
Captain John Alton, United States Army – WW II
Lieutenant Commander Arthur Arling, United States Navy – WW II
Monroe Askins, United States Navy – WW II – John Ford Field Photo Unit
Commander Joseph August, United States Navy – WW II – served in Iceland and the Pacific
Captain Joseph Biroc, United States Army – WW II – Signal Corps – was the first cameraman to shoot the Liberation of Paris & the Liberation of Dachau
Norbert Brodine, United States Army – WW I – photographer
Stephen H. Burum, United States Army – Signal Corps, Astoria Studio, New York
Robert Caramico, United States Marine Corps – Korea – 5-year combat cameraman
William Clothier, United States Army Air Force – WW II – photographed William Wyler’s legendary 1944 documentary, Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress
Sgt. Stanley Cortez, United States Army – WW II – principal cinematographer of the Yalta and Quebec conferences and the Liberation of Paris
Major Floyd Crosby – United States Army Air Force Transport Command – WW II – shot many pilot training films
Clyde DeVinna, United States Navy – WW II – was the official photographer of our Pacific Fleet
Gerald Feil, United States Army Pictorial Unit – WW II
William A. Fraker, United States Navy – WW II
Major Ellsworth Fredericks, United States Army – WW II – 1943-44, was the official cinematographer of President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Captain Henry Freulich, United States Marine Corps – WWII
Robert Hauser, United States Army – WW II – combat photographer
Gerry Hirschfeld, United States Army – WW II – Signal Corps, Astoria Studio, New York
Winton Hoch, United States Navy – WW II
Levie Issacks, United States Army – Vietnam – decorated for actions taken during the Battle of Dak To
Ray June, United States Army Signal Corps – WW I
Richard A. Kelley, United States Coast Guard – WW II – made fourteen Pacific landings
Ken Kelsch, United States Army – Vietnam – served in Special Forces, MACV\SOG
Victor J. Kemper, United States Navy – WW II
Richard Kline – United States Navy – WW II
James Liles, United States Merchant Marine – WW II
Sergeant John Peverell Marley, United States Army – WW II
Brick Marquard, United States Navy – WW II – a member of John Ford’s Field Photo Unit, he was assigned by Ford to cover the D-Day Normandy landing
Ira. H. Morgan, United States Army – WW I – awarded the French Lègion d’Honneur
Staff Sergeant David L. Quaid, United States Army – WW II – served with the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) (Merrill’s Marauders); Chinese 38th Division; British 36th Division; Mars Task Force; 164th Signal Photo Company in the China-Burma-India Theater
Chief Gunner’s Mate Jack L. Richards, United States Navy – WW II
Peter Romano, United States Navy – combat cameraman
Lieutenant Colonel Ted Tetzlaff, United States Army Air Force – WW II
Commander Gregg Toland, United States Navy – WW II – served in John Ford’s Field Photo Unit; directed the U.S War Department documentary, December 7th
Howard Schwartz, United States Marine Corps – WW II – Pacific photographer
Major Lester Shorr, United States Army – WW II – Signal Corps – enlisted April 1942, spent 26 months in the China-Burma-India Theater
Roy Wagner, United States Air Force
Joseph Westheimer, United States Army Air Force – WW II – was part of the 18th Base Unit housed at Hal Roach Studio in Culver City
Haskell Wexler, United States Merchant Marine – WW II – three ships he served on were sunk by enemy torpedoes
Commander Charles Wheeler, United States Navy – WW II – enlisted in July 1941; began WW II as an Ensign; attended the Training Film Division at the Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington, D.C.; also attended the Photo School at Pensacola, Fla.; studied aerial mapping and photogrammetry in Norfolk, Va.; saw action in the Pacific in a Combat Photo Unit and as an aircraft carrier photographic officer; was Officer-In-Charge of all photography of the Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Harbor, 9\2\45
Gordon Willis, United States Air Force – Korea – cinematographer
Jack Woolf, United States Navy
That’s a wonderful tribute, Richard.
It was an honor to have worked with Bob Caramico, ASC.
Henry Freulich, ASC was my Fuji rep while I was running the Lorimar camera dept. in the early 1980’s. He was a wonderful man, and I still re- tell his anecdotes when he was a cinematographer working with the Three Stooges, and the Blondie film series at Columbia.
Thank you for recognizing them today!
Thank you each and to your families and loved ones as well. All we have and ever will have is thanks to you.