The 120 black-and-white photographs, taken from the archives of the Associated Press, capture images that portray the ugliness of war, the strength of armies, the sacrifice of millions, the glory of victory and, more than anything else, the enduring power of the human spirit.
"The idea of the citizen Soldier and how the entire country was mobilized for the war effort can be seen in this exhibit," said David Reyes, the curator of Exhibitions and Collections at the museum. "When you view this exhibit, you get a sense of pride in what our country did and a sense of reverence for what these individual people did."
Each photograph tells its own story - a Polish mother holding her child and wiping away tears as dictator Adolf Hitler and German Soldiers look on, Nazi troops marching through Nuremberg, a destroyed London hospital where nurses clear debris from hospital beds, mass held in a bombed cathedral, the explosion of the USS Enterprise, a flyover of camels in Tunisia, U.S. troops praying before the Normandy landing, a young French girl placing flowers on the grave of a U.S. Soldier, a dead GI clutching a hand grenade, U.S. Soldiers posing on the barrel of a German railroad gun, Jack Benny entertaining troops, the Nagasaki mushroom cloud, the Japanese delegation surrendering on the USS Missouri deck, the V-J celebration, and the images go on and on.
"In these photographs, you see people having to deal with the trauma of this devastating war," Reyes said. "You get a sense of the stories they tell. The bravery that some of these photographs exhibit is amazing."
"Memories of World War II: Photographs from the Archives of the Associated Press" was first opened to the public in May 2004 at Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, a week before the nation's World War II Memorial was ceremoniously christened on the mall. It has since traveled to more than 20 museums throughout the U.S.
It will be on display in five galleries at the Huntsville Museum of Art through Sept. 29. The Army Materiel Command Band will perform at a reception open to the public in honor of the exhibit this Sunday at 2 p.m. in the museum's Great Hall.
The museum will also host several educational programs in connection with the exhibit.
As part of the exhibit, the museum is showcasing artifacts and weapons from the Veterans Memorial Museum that tie directly to the historical events captured in the images.
"This is a unique partnership for us," Reyes said. "So many people don't know that we have these great resources here at our Veterans Memorial Museum. We were given free reign to go through their entire collection to find the artifacts that would blend with this exhibit. The resources we've borrowed from them bring these historical images to life. We've matched up photos with these artifacts."
A reconnaissance map of Japanese positions on Iwo Jima is displayed near the iconic image of the Marines raising the U.S. flag on the island's Mount Suribachi. A case of D-Day items that Soldiers wore and used is located near images of the storming of the Normandy beach. A bazooka used against enemy tanks is on display near a photograph of U.S. Soldiers walking past a destroyed German tank with a manor house and lush countryside in the background. A German steel helmet and rifle are showcased near photographs that show the beginning of the war's destruction throughout Europe.
Many of the photographs credit AP staff photographers by name while other images come from anonymous Army and Navy photographers. Some were killed in combat; others went on to postwar prominence in their craft.
In planning the exhibit, Reyes said, it was decided to show the 120 photographs in chronological order. Hence, one photograph of U.S. troops celebrating the end of the war in the European theater is hung near photographs showing the war's devastation in the Pacific theater.
"Oftentimes, exhibits will treat World War II as two wars - the European theater and the Pacific theater. We wanted to treat it as one war where you can see what is happening in different parts of the world at the same time," Reyes said, who is a WW II history buff.
"As you go through the exhibit, you are walking through the war from beginning to end."
Every photograph is accompanied by a label that tells the story behind the image.
"This is the perfect type of exhibit for our community and for the military community here," Reyes said. "This shows a time when everyone in the U.S. was touched by the war. It was an entire national effort. There are so many great historical images in this exhibit that tell the story."
Reyes especially likes the human element depicted in such images as a London family displaced by bombs, the 14-year-old German soldiers happy to be prisoners of war, Russian soldiers of several different ethnicities imprisoned behind barb wire, and the American Soldier standing with the help of crutches and looking up at the buildings in New York City's Times Square with confetti strewn all around him.
"You can see so many different emotions on the faces," he said. "The American Soldier in uniform looks like he's thinking, 'Thank God the war is over and I survived' while at the same time, "What happens now?'
"For so many returning U.S. Soldiers, it was about, 'What happens now? What's the next step?' For many, they went on to try to rebuild their lives and forget what happened at war. Many of those who came back from World War II never talked about what happened to them."
But the photographs in the exhibit do talk, and its hoped those photographs will help local families understand the sacrifices of their ancestors who lived through World War II.
"We are truly honored to host such a powerful exhibition which shares defining moments in our nation's history," said Christopher Madkour, museum executive director. "For those who fought in World War II, as well as other foreign wars, we have a responsibility to educate today's generations of their courage, sacrifice, heroic deeds and honor. That is an important part of the museum's mission."
Madkour first saw the exhibit on display at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, Vt., when he was the executive director there.
"I knew we must have this exhibit here. This is a red, white and blue city that will embrace this exhibit and appreciate the stories it has to tell," he said. "We have already received feedback and a positive response from the community. They have embraced this exhibit and it's Wall of Honor that remembers our local World War II heroes. This exhibit helps us to reach out to a new audience that we hope to bring into the museum."
PNC Bank is a lead sponsor of the exhibit with Davidson Technologies. Additional support has been provided by several corporate and individual sponsors.
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