3rd Bomb Group - Celebrities @ War

Subject:   Celebrities
Date:           Wed, 8 Dec 1999 01:02:11 EST
From:          jonjac2@msn.com

Just messing around tonite and discovered your celebrities page. We never did see Jack Benny's group, but we did have Bob Hope's entourage and Gary Cooper and Co. Would you like some photos of same?

Subject:   Celebrities
Date:            Thu, 9 Dec 1999 00:03:36 EST
From:          jonjac2@msn.com

Gary Cooper and his crew came to us in 1943 at Doba Dura. They visited the 90th Sq. line area and we got some photos of them at the time. I will Email them separately as 3 of them are 8 x l0's and expect will take a little longer to upload and download. I hope they will come thru ok. This 1st one is of Gary standing in front of the engine of one of the B-25's.

Gary Cooper standing in front of a 90th Squadron,
3rd Bomb Group B-25 at Doba Dura

Click on picture to enlarge
Warning - File is 133Kbytes

Subject:   Celebrities
Date:            Thu, 9 Dec 1999 00:12:07 EST
From:          jonjac2@msn.com

This next one will be Phyliss Brooks standing from of the shark nose of a 90th Squadron B-25 with those 50 Cal. stingers sticking out.

Phyliss Brooks standing in front of a
90th Squadron, 3rd Bomb Group B-25

Click on picture to enlarge
Warning - File is 115 Kbytes

Subject:   Celebs'
Date:           Thu, 9 Dec 1999 00:22:06 EST
From:          jonjac2@msn.com

This is the three of them doing their thing. Gary Cooper singing? He did try, but he was no Enrico Carusso.

Gary Cooper and his group

Click on picture to enlarge
Warning - File is 64 Kbytes

Subject:   Stay tuned
Date:           Thu, 9 Dec 1999 00:34:38 EST
From:          jonjac2@msn.com

That does it for Gary's troupe, don't want to clutter up your mail box too much at one time. Will send Hope's crew at our Hollandia base tomorrow nite. Also have a shot of Judith Anderson and some lesser lights that visited us at Hollandia. She was a well-known Shakespearean actress back in the days of yore. Would you be wanting to have her also?

Subject:   One more time for Gary's crew
Date:           Thu, 9 Dec 1999 00:30:50 EST
From:          jonjac2@msn.com

These are two smaller shot. One of Una Merkle with a group of 90th Sq. Pilots. The other is of Gary with a Group of 90th Sq. pilots.

Una Merkle with a group of 90th Squadron pilots

Click on picture to enlarge
Warning - File is 88 Kbytes

Gary Cooper and a group of 90th Squadron pilots
standing in front of "Here's Howe"

Click on picture to enlarge
Warning - File is 84 Kbytes

Subject:   Stay tuned;
Date:           Fri, 10 Dec 1999 00:18:24 EST
From:          jonjac2@msn.com

Once again we are approaching the bewitching hour, when witches and old soldiers do their thing. Mac Arthur just faded away, get on this infernal machine. The first shot coming thru will be Bob, himself, and it is an 8x10 so will send it alone.

Subject:   Stay tuned;
Date:           Fri, 10 Dec 1999 00:26:46 EST
From:          jonjac2@msn.com

This is a double one of Francis Langford singing and the other is of Jerry Colona singing one of his comedy skits. I just can't put a name on the guitarist at the moment, but he was quite well known at the time. If I delved into my album and sometimes diary, I could probably come up with it if needs be.

Francis Langford

Jerry Colona

Subject:   Stay tuned;
Date:           Fri, 10 Dec 1999 00:37:41 EST
From:          jonjac2@msn.com

This last one is of the dancer he had with him, Patty Thomas. Maybe you think that wasn't a site for sore eyes for all those jungle-bound G.I.'s who hadn't seen anything like that in months and months. Also with Patty comes a little side story that I will bore you with. Upon my return to the States in March of '45 they gave me a 21 day leave. After 3 years in the boondocks of the S.W. Pacific I guess they figured I had earned it. I spent a couple of those days in St. Louis, Mo. One nite with a young lady friend I attended a nite club where Ted Lewis and his orchestra was entertaining. After playing a few numbers, among them his famous "Me and My Shadow" routine, he introduced a young dancer who had been entertaining the troops in the Pacific areas. Who should come out but, Patty Thomas. Small world isn''t it? And here she comes with no more boring stories.

Subject:    Stay tuned;
Date:             Sat, 11 Dec 1999 00:04:22 EST
From:           jonjac2@msn.com

Last nite I forgot about poor old Judith Anderson. I will tack her onto this and that completes the celebrities that visited us. she is the more mature looking gal 2nd from the right hand side of pix. I don't have the slightest idea the names of the other gals with her. They were more or less the supporting cast to Judith. To be perfectly honest, I was dispatched to photograph them in the Grim Reaper jackets, but I never did see the show. Don't remember why I didn't get to it, ones memory does get a little dim after 55 years. If I didn't have the album and my sometime diary to fall back on there are a lot of things I probably wouldn't remember. I have a hard time putting names on some of the guys in the pictures unless I had made a of notation of them. It is rough to get old, but the alternative ain't all that great either.

I do believe that these WW II web sites with there contributions from veterans and photos from albums that lay dormant for a half century are helping to rekindle an interest in the conflict. And I believe that is a good thing for the younger generations. You are doing an excellent job with yours and always seem to be adding to it. I get a lot of good feedback on your "Townsville at War". It was the son of a 13th Sq. veteran that steered me onto your site. I will be forever grateful to him. And I think all of us Pacific vets still kicking owe you a vote of thanks for what you have done for the part of WW II that was relegated to the back burner for so long.

Judith Anderson is 2nd from the right

Wearing their Grim Reaper jackets

Subject:    Stay tuned;
Date:             Mon, 13 Dec 1999 00:12:03 EST
From:           jonjac2@msn.com

I got the Gary Cooper assignment by default. One of the other guys was leaving the next day on advanced detail to Nadzab, so got the job of photographing Gary's show. He hadn't had any experience with flash Cameras, and came up with nothing. Fortunately it was a two nite stand, so the next nite I got the job, having had two years experience with flash work in high school. My last two years in school I took all the year-book photos except the formal senior portraits. Having scored on that one, the others just sorta came my way.

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