This image was digitized from a negative found in my grandmother’s trunk of old photos and documents. The date and place are unidentified, but it seems to be part of a series of photos that may have been taken in Texas. Any ideas what these young men might be up to?
I first discovered this photograph in 2008 and wrote about it in Treasure Revealed! but I’m no closer to knowing more about the picture today than I was then. Any ideas?
Their expressions are cheerful and hearty, almost as if they have not seen combat. I see what Heather means about a training environment. The hats, and the socks, definitely look like Pam's link to the WWI soldiers. But they certainly are not in any kind of military formation, yet. A puzzle. This picture needs a letter to go with it.
Seems like you might be on to something here, Heather, about the type of unit. They do like more like farmers. I have to get out all the negatives, but I seem to recall some of my grandmother with one or two of the soldier boys, so I think she took these, not Sam. She looked very young in the photos as I remember, maybe in her teens, and she was born in 1890. That would make this too early for WWI.
You have me fascinated by your mystery! I would say that this is a group of national guard Soldiers due to the variance uniform…or lack thereof. An active duty unit during this time period was more likely to have been provided uniforms. Of course, it is possible that these were new recruits prior to being issued uniforms, but I think the simplest answer tends to be the right one. It's hard to say what they are doing, but since they are not in full "gear" and they are carrying weapons I would say they are in a training environment, either running drills or practicing firing their weapons. My money is on this being of Sam's unit. Do the letters mention his unit name or the location he is writing from?
Thanks for the link, Pam. Maybe that mystery will be solved!
Hi,
Your photo brought to mind one I have of my uncle who served in WWI. So i did a search and found a photo and description of soldiers in WWI. This is the link to that page http://www.wfa-eastcoast.org/The-Doughboys.html.
Ihope this is helpful!