Messinger Pacific Theater World War II Collection
Special Collections Department
Robert E. Kennedy Library
1 Grand Avenue
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0605
Phone: (805) 756-2305
Fax: (805) 756-5770
URL: http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/specialcollections/
Email: archives@calpoly.edu
© 2007
Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Messinger Pacific Theater World War II Collection
Special Collections Department
Robert E. Kennedy Library
1 Grand Avenue
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407–0605
Contact Information
- Special Collections Department
- Robert E. Kennedy Library
- 1 Grand Avenue
- California Polytechnic State University
- San Luis Obispo, CA 93407–0605
- Phone: (805) 756–2305
- Fax: (805) 756–5770
- Email: archives@calpoly.edu
- URL: http://www.lib.calpoly.edu/specialcollections/
- Processed by:
- Ken Kenyon
- Date Completed:
- 2007
- Encoded by:
- Byte Managers, 2007; Carina Love, 2008; Marisa L. Ramirez, 2009.
© 2007 Trustees of the California State University. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Messinger Pacific Theater World War II Collection
Date (inclusive): August-October, 1945,
Date (bulk): August-October, 1945
Collection number: MS 064
Creator:
Donald J. Messinger
Extent:
1 box
Languages:
English
Repository:
Special Collections, Robert E. Kennedy Library
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California 93407
Abstract: The Messinger Collection contains 100 black-and-white photographs that record
one soldier's views of Japan in the closing days of World War II, including 14 aerial photographs of Nagasaki
after the atomic bombing on August 9, 1945.
Provenance
Found in collection.
Restrictions on Access
Collection is open to qualified researchers by appointment only. For more information on access policies and to obtain a copy
of the Researcher Registration form, please visit the Special Collections Access page.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
In order to reproduce, publish, broadcast, exhibit, and/or quote from this material, researchers must submit a written request
and obtain formal permission from Special Collections, Cal Poly, as the owner of the physical collection. Researchers should
also consult with an appropriate staff member regarding literary or other intellectual property rights pertaining to this
collection.
Photocopying of material is permitted at staff discretion and provided on a fee basis. Photocopies are not to be used for
any purpose other than for private study, scholarship, or research. Special Collections staff reserves the right to limit
photocopying and deny access or reproduction in cases when, in the opinion of staff, the original materials would be harmed.
Preferred Citation
Messinger Pacific Theater World War II Collection, Special Collections, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis
Obispo, Calif.
Biography
Donald J. Messinger was born on February 9, 1914, and died in Rochester, New York, on June 4, 1993. Little is known about
his life or his service during World War II.
Scope and Content Note
The Messinger Collection contains 100 black-and-white photographs that record one soldier's views of Japan in the closing
days of World War II, including 14 aerial photographs of Nagasaki after the atomic bombing on August 9, 1945.
The photographs include views of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; the sea voyage to the Sasebo Naval Base, Japan; Japanese and American
ships and aircraft; Army, Navy and Marine military personnel; images of Japanese urban and rural life in and around Sasebo
following the fire-bombing; and aerial photography showing the devastation after the second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.
The collection is arranged in original chronological order, from August through October of 1945 and uses Mr. Messinger's original
captions.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Bombing, Aerial --Japan -- Pictorial works
Nagasaki-shi (Japan) -- History -- Bombardment, 1945 -- Pictorial works
Sasebo-shi (Japan) -- History -- Bombardment, 1943 -- Pictorial works
War photography -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
World War, 1939-1945.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Archival resources
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japan
World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations, American -- Pictorial works.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Japan -- Nagasaki-shi.
Messinger, Donald J. -- 1914-1993
Genre and Forms of Materials
Photographs
Related Material
Related Collections
Special Collections, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo:
Smith Family Papers on World War II, 1936-2005 (MS 65)
Manzanar Collection, 1942-1994 (MS 026)
1. Photographs
1945
Scope and Content Note
Contains one subseries: A. Photographs of Hawaii and Japan.
A. Photographs of Hawaii and Japan
Scope and Content Note
Contains black-and-white snapshots of military personnel from the Army, Navy and Marines, and the Japanese people in and around
Sasebo; military transport by air, land and sea, and the devastation from firebombing and the atomic bomb at the close of
World War II, arranged chronologically from August-October, 1945.
Box 1, Folder 1
Sad Sacks, the day of leaving, Hawaii
Box 1, Folder 1
Convoy making up in Pearl Harbor
Box 1, Folder 1
Plenty of room to enjoy the beautiful trip out
Box 1, Folder 1
From the bridge to forward deck
Box 1, Folder 2
Late evening, Sept. 21, 1945, Sasebo, Japan
Box 1, Folder 2
Early morning, Sept. 22, 1945, Sasebo, Japan
Box 1, Folder 2
The outer harbor looking east to China, Sasebo, Japan
Box 1, Folder 3
Landing at the Seaplane Base of the great Sasebo Naval Base,
Sept. 22, 1945
Box 1, Folder 3
The first Christian service to be held in this area
Box 1, Folder 3
This factory moved 95% underground
Box 1, Folder 3
A great factory for making catapults
Box 1, Folder 3
Inside said bunkhouse – former factory
Box 1, Folder 4
Mountainside entrance to underground factory
Box 1, Folder 4
Inside view of underground factory
Box 1, Folder 4
Japanese working for 98th N.C.B. cutting grass
Box 1, Folder 4
Airstrip of mowed grass at V.M.O. 5 Seaplane Base, Sasebo
Box 1, Folder 4
Typical forward area Post Office
Box 1, Folder 5
Sweating out the trip home
Box 1, Folder 5
We stand in line to eat!!! We Stand in Line!!!
Box 1, Folder 6
Japanese squat facing the high end
Box 1, Folder 6
One of three Peace Planes
Box 1, Folder 6
Charcoal burners used in lieu of gasoline
Box 1, Folder 6
Typical farm wife with child on her back
Box 1, Folder 6
Little Miss, with Sasebo Harbor in background
Box 1, Folder 7
Even the very old did their share
Box 1, Folder 7
All except the middle-class city man — his wife his serf
Box 1, Folder 7
Not so the farmer — his wife his partner
Box 1, Folder 8
Typical sight of loaded women
Box 1, Folder 8
As a rule, it's the women's place in front of the load
Box 1, Folder 8
Taken near Haiki, 10 miles from Sasebo
Box 1, Folder 8
Kids — very colorful kimonos
Box 1, Folder 9
Notice the very large doll on the child's back
Box 1, Folder 9
Japanese bicycle-taxi near Kashima
Box 1, Folder 9
Inside shot of middle-class home
Box 1, Folder 9
It's quite humid in this area
Box 1, Folder 10
View of Sonogi, Japan, with terraced rice paddies
Box 1, Folder 10
Women carry male children until quite an advanced age
Box 1, Folder 10
Very little land goes to waste in Japan
Box 1, Folder 10
Ten million people live on the island of Kyushu alone
Box 1, Folder 11
Air view of the Kumamoto Mountains across the Shimabara Kaiwan Bay
Box 1, Folder 11
Inland waterways on air flight from Sasebo to Nagasaki
Box 1, Folder 11
Rice fields, with part of Saga Mountain Range in background
Box 1, Folder 11
Japanese plane factory, not far from Omuta.
Box 1, Folder 12
Roadside shrine hidden in the rocks
Box 1, Folder 12
Inside view of the Catholic Church, Sacred Heart, Main Street, Sasebo
Box 1, Folder 12
Entrance to Shinto Shrine
Box 1, Folder 12
These shrines were out of bounds to all troops
Box 1, Folder 12
Entrance to a Buddhist temple
Box 1, Folder 13
Country estate of rich farmer
Box 1, Folder 13
Better than average farm house
Box 1, Folder 14
Main street of Sasa Village, approximately 20 miles north of Sasebo
Box 1, Folder 14
Main street of Arita, northeast of Sasebo
Box 1, Folder 14
Three Japanese aircraft carriers
Box 1, Folder 15
Looking over the city of Omuta
Box 1, Folder 15
Closer view of the city showing the firebombed area
Box 1, Folder 15
Military college, 5th Marine Headquarters
Box 1, Folder 16
Firebombing hit in spots, leaving others untouched
Box 1, Folder 17
The main theater, Sasebo, gutted
Box 1, Folder 17
The air view from Omora. This section untouched
Box 1, Folder 18
Nagasaki, bomb dropped midway in the upper center, looking north
Aug. 9, 1945
Box 1, Folder 18
The entire valley was a complete ruin, looking south
Box 1, Folder 18
The residential area, protected from the bomb blast to the north by a range of hills
Box 1, Folder 18
Large airplane factory. At the upper end of valley, or north end
Box 1, Folder 19
Vertical view of a string of factories at the southern end of the Nagasaki Valley
Box 1, Folder 19
Flying over the residential area
Box 1, Folder 19
Former church located on the very edge of the bomb blast
Box 1, Folder 19
Result of blast – southern end of valley
Box 1, Folder 19
Approximately 12 miles from bomb blast, to the north, beyond the end of the valley
Box 1, Folder 20
Japanese Army-Navy hospital — southern end of valley
Box 1, Folder 20
Approximately eight miles to the northeast of the valley, only the blast reached here
Box 1, Folder 20
A few miles further on, up the same valley
Box 1, Folder 20
Church approximately seven miles down the southern end of the valley
