Wright, Kevin USAF Combat Camera 1941-1991

The Brave Ones Shoot Bullets, the Crazy Ones Shoot Film

A volume from the series Technology @ War. The brave shoot with bullets, the crazy shoot with films this is how the work of the US Air Force's Combat Camera specialists was described. Since 1941, these cameramen and photographers have been carrying out their often dangerous work, frequently at the front line. The cameramen of the USAF Combat Camera, and later also women, have participated in all major US military operations and missions worldwide. While some of their war productions, such as the original Memphis Belle and The Last Bomb, rightly received great public acclaim, most of their work, which was often classified as secret, was intended only for the Pentagon. Their main task was to keep high-ranking military commanders and decision-makers informed about USAF operations and to document the challenges faced by US forces on the ground. Combat Camera traces these activities from their beginnings in Hollywood, where they produced military training films, through war films, bombing raids over Europe and Japan, the liberation of France, the attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama and the 1991 Gulf War. These events are mainly illuminated through personal accounts from the combat cameramen themselves. From individual acts of heroism to organisational changes and new equipment to their often privileged position at historic events, Combat Camera captures the work of these men and women and was produced in collaboration with members of the USAF Combat Camera Association. This volume is richly illustrated with original photographs and, in addition to the series' characteristic colour images, also contains internet links to original film footage by USAF combat cameramen.