Hi, my great grandfather was a lieutenant commander in the Navy during WWII aboard the USS Makin Island. From what I gather his job was to analyze the photos that the planes took. I have inherited his memorabilia from that period in his life. I am hear to pick your brains, LOL. I have a whole box full of classified photos, for example I have pics from the second day of the preinvasion of Iwo Jima. I also have a box full of daily operational reports and telegrams. I would like to have someone have the stuff thats going to enjoy it, if I keep it it will just be packed away. I guess my question is: can I sell this stuff and is it worth anything? Thanks for all your help, LdyBug
Hi Ladybug! Welcome to the forums. Perhaps you can scan the materials and post them here. I am sure many of the Rogues who populate this forum would love to see them! Cheers!
Hi Lady bug, You could put the stuff up for sale and hope it goes to some one really interested in the stuff but then its more then likely the collection could get broken up or you could do something like this. If you come from a decent size town you could donate them to your local museum for display. Another idea is if you dont have a public museum then you might want to talk to your local library. I know the orginal small town I grew up in would take stuff like that and display them in the library for historical referance for the public to enjoy. Though the historian part of me would love to see them scanned and posted on the web for all to enjoy. Hope that help.
If you "give" them to a museum you can do it in a couple of ways. One is to loan them that way if the museum ever decides to get rid of them you or your family get them back. Another is to just give them away. This should get you a tax deduction at worse. You might also consider sending a note to the navy historical office they might be interested in them as well. If they were "classified" they might still be considered government property so talking to the above historical office might be a good idea in any case.
That checking with the appropriate office would be the first step. They may very well have been "declassified" without it being common knowledge, in that case you should have right of ownership. But that is only from one old fart looking in from the outside. Best to check before making any moves with the property. Good luck, I hope you find either a worthwhile home for them or "pick up a bit of change" with their sale or tax break with a gift of them. Best to ya.
I third that motion. It seems like something so old would no longer be sensitive material, but the DoD works in wierd ways. I highly recommend you contact the Naval Historical Office and inform them what you have, they will probably send a local representative (i.e. task some officer who is locally assigned for recruiting purposes, etc) to come see you. Make sure you at least talk to somebody before letting this stuff out, then you have deniability if the govt ever tries to make an issue of it. Keep copies of all documentation and/or correspondence relating to the matter, and always write down the name of who you're talking to. A couple of phone calls to the Naval Historical center should be more than enough - and they probably will just tell you to do what you wish with the photos - it's just nice to be able to say you talked to LT or Mr/Ms somebody, if they decide to contact you at a later time. If you need an active duty representative I don't mind helping out, but it would depend on your location. http://www.history.navy.mil/
Well boys, here is a copy of the signed surrender of Japan with 2 photos to accompany the document. Enjoy!!!!
these are certainly nice historical documents. Thank you for posting them, would it be posible to get a better resolution so we can read the text?
Might I suggest seeing if this museum wants them? They would be directly applicable to their area of interest: Welcome to the National Museum of the Pacific War!
