New AP exhibit displays gripping images of World War II
From Brian Todd
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Some pictures only a few people have seen. Others are so famous they're emblematic of the great conflict known as World War II.
During World War II, thousands of newspapers and hundreds of thousands of Americans got their news of what was happening overseas, from The Associated Press. These images of that long distance lifeline are now on display.
"There's no more dangerous mission for a journalist than covering war and conflict," says AP President Tom Curley.
For its new exhibit and book, "Memories of World War II," AP reached into its archive of more than 100,000 photographs to pull fewer than 200 of the most riveting.
From those who prosecuted the war, to those who were innocently caught up in it, the cost of those years spills out.
A Polish girl weeping over the body of her sister just killed by German machine-gun fire; a mother desperately trying to deliver her children from the rubble of a decimated Belgian village; Hiroshima's devastation -- all these are presented in the exhibit.
Max Desfor is a retired AP photographer. He was aboard the USS Missouri to cover the surrender of Japan. He also captured shots of the Enola Gay and crew when it returned from dropping the first atomic bomb.
"Frankly, I didn't know what an A-bomb was. It had never been fully explained. ... Of course I found out later, because I flew over Hiroshima shortly thereafter and I saw the terrible destruction from one bomb," says Desfor.
Pictures of soldiers killed in combat deliver the reality of young, robust lives cut short in an instant.
Bob Dole escaped that fate on an Italian battlefield in 1945 -- but at great cost. He's grateful.
"Some made the ultimate sacrifice. Some of us were lucky," says the former presidential nominee and World War II veteran.
Stephen Cromwell seemed to be everywhere as a U.S. Army corpsman. On June 6, 1944, he was part of the first wave on Omaha Beach with the 101st Airborne. The next year he was onboard the USS Missouri when it narrowly escaped destruction from a Japanese kamikaze, and for the surrender.
"The war was over. We didn't have to worry about killing people or the chance of getting killed. We were all going to be able to go home. We were gonna be able to pick up our lives again and carry on with some things that were much more meaningful. War is a terrible experience," says Cromwell.
This AP exhibit is now at Union Station in Washington. At the end of July, it will pack up and tour around the country.
