The discovery of this memo among my father’s photos led me across the Internet to track the men it mentioned. Two proved quite famous: General Spencer Akin, MacArthur’s Chief Signal Officer, and Major Paul Wing, a Hollywood director who resumed duties as the theater’s acting Photographic Officer after being freed from Cabanatuan prison camp.
But the mists of time have claimed most. Even the memo’s author, Captain Harold C. Herman, proved untraceable. I accepted I might never know what happened to most of my father’s “rank and file” comrades, including his buddy Johnson.
So I was thrilled to find that two men associated with my father’s unit, Charles Restifo (above) and Ovid Di Fiore, had written memoirs—and that Ovid may still be alive.
Update, February 23, 2011: Although I wrote to Mr. Di Fiore, I never received a reply. But out of the blue I received a note from 1st Lt Don Mittelstaedt, which I’ve reproduced below. Don was part of another photo unit that merged with my father’s in preparation for the mainland invasion of Japan.
Staff Sergeant Charles R. Restifo, 161st Signal Photo Co.
I found S/Sgt Charles Restifo’s Autobiography in the Library of Congress. His widow Beatrice donated it along with twenty-five of his photos in 2003. Capt Herman mentions S/Sgt Restifo here:
A second mobile lab unit, from the 161st Photographic Company, shipped from the South Pacific theater, reached San Miguel on February 3rd. S/Sgt C.R. Restifo was in charge, with T/4 J.P. Pace and Pfc H.A. Gildersleve completing the three man crew.
The two units combined in Manila, when they set up permanent headquarters in the Sampuguita Pictures building. Based on information in his Autobiography, I believe S/Sgt Restifo shot these images:
It’s clear that S/Sgt Restifo and my father shared darkroom facilities in Manila and Tokyo (though he never mentions my father) and probably exchanged other photos. I’ve annotated those above with text from S/Sgt Restifo’s autobiography.
First Lieutenant Don Mittelstaedt, 161st Signal Photo Co.
Don Mittelstaedt sent me the following information on February 7, 2011:
I do not remember Pfc Glenn W. Eve, personally, but I am sure I rubbed elbows with him on Leyte, Luzon and Japan.
I was OIC (Officer in charge) of Combat Photo Unit 10, 161st Signal Photo Company. Glenn was part of the 832 Signal Battalion, Photo, and based at Hollandia, New Guinea, when the Mobile Photo Lab was constructed. I bivouaced briefly with the 832nd before the invasion of Leyte. I also landed at White Beach near Tacloban, Leyte, with the 1st Cavalry Division, shortly before the Mobile Lab came in. Since we were covering the action of this division, I did not know about the Mobil Lab setting up in Tacloban. My unit, Combat Photo Unit 10, was pretty much on our own thoughout the Solomon Island campaigns and New Britain Island (and many other small islands).
In fact, we did not even see our 161st Signal Photo Company for more than a year. We acted entirely on our own, with blanket orders specifying no destination, giving us first available air, land or sea transportation to combat area. We covered the action of seven different divisions during WW2, including everywhere Glenn Eve went, but we didn’t know it. We were so much on our own that we didn’t get acquainted with other photo units until we all met in Manila.
As a 1st Lt. I was father, mother, leader, counselor, censor, paymaster, friend and fellow occupant of the nearest slit trench to my enlisted photographers, and I was only 3 or 4 years older than they.
Shortly before the war ended, the 161st Signal Photo Company and the 832nd Signal Battalion (Photo) merged and became the 4026 Signal Photo Battalion, in preparation for the invasion of the Japanese mainland on November 1, 1945. Thanks to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Glenn and I did not become part of the 200,000 casualties expected on that operation.
Don and I enjoyed a lively two-year correspondence, which was like taking a World War II history class from the most engaged instructor ever. One day I’ll add his letters and photos to this archive. I was bereft when passed away on his 94th birthday, August 3, 2013. You can read an introduction to him here.
Related:
- Pacific Campaign Map.
- Combat History of the Mobile Photo Lab by Capt Harold C. Herman.
- Flowers for the Living, a tribute for the Mobile Photo Lab by Washington Post correspondent Allen Raymond.