Trove of Marine Corps Films From 1930s-1970s to Be Preserved

[steve2470]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/trove-marine-corps-films-1930s-1970s-preserved-36441241

Never-before-seen films of Marines ramming artillery shells into large guns on the beaches of Iwo Jima in 1945 and standing amid sandbags during the 1968 siege of Khe Sanh in Vietnam are part of a vast collection of silent, color footage being repaired, preserved and eventually placed online for all to see.

The Marine Corps is sending the rare stockpile of films to specialists in South Carolina. Some of the images have been in storage for 70 years and offer viewers a gritty "you-were-there" view of military life. Most films were not even seen by the combat photographers who shot them with hand-held cameras from the late 1930s through World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Marine Corps historian Thomas Baughn, who manages the film repository at the Marine Corps University at Quantico, Virginia, said it's important the unique "Leatherneck legacy" not crumble away. Understanding the history and tradition of the Marine Corps is an important part of each Marine's ethos, the historian said.

"It's some pretty powerful footage," Baughn said in a telephone interview.

[w0nderer]

1. K & R for visibility of this N/T

[RKP5637]

2. Excellent! We need to preserve our history. These films will certainly, eventually, not be

salvageable.

[Recursion]

3. Semper fi

That's fascinating