After Fifty Years

Do you recall my friend Jim Sherwood, who bought a single original photograph for himself every year on his birthday, only to see his collection flourish over the decades and become worth far more than he had paid for it? (At this link, scroll down to "The not-a-collector collector.")

Jim's had a very successful and involved life in photography, which in recent years has extended to photobook collecting and selling. I thought I'd pass along a brief but moving comment Jim made on Facebook about what a customer said about one particular book. Here's the Facebook post in its entirety (very lightly edited):

"To my Facebook friends—some of you know I am a longtime, passionate photobook collector. Over the last 15 years I’ve been an online book dealer. In the process, you develop superficial client relationships with minimal communication. It’s the nature of web business. Rarely do I know anything about why someone wants to purchase a particular book.

"A few day ago I got an order for David Douglas Duncan’s War Without Heroes (1970), a powerful Vietnam War combat zone photo essay. Informing the buyer that I was on vacation and would ship the book upon my return, I received this message:

Understood. Enjoy your trip. I am in the book. I have waited fifty years to bring myself to see all of my friends that did not make it.

Signed, ______, Sergeant Major, U.S. Marine Corps, Never Retired.

"I was speechless, and deeply moved."

I wonder how that Marine Sergeant Major felt after viewing the book—I can imagine it bringing back both bad memories and good. I wonder if he was grateful to have had a part of his life documented that, in most soldiers' lives and experience, wasn't.

I have that book too, thanks to the recommendation of my friend and onetime book dealer Andy Moursund, who called it one of the three best books of war photography ever made. It's powerful work. DDD, as he was called, "embedded" with a combat unit long before that term was common, so it's a view from the inside of what it was like to experience the war in a U.S. Marine Corps unit.

DDD was a Marine himself who served in WWII. He donated the proceeds of This is War!, his book of Korean War photographs, to the widows and children of Marines who died in Korea. He himself passed away only two years ago at the age of 102.

Thanks to Jim for letting me republish this here.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2020 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Ashton Lee: "In 1967 my father was given a copy of DDD's book Yankee Nomad. I have had a deep love for photography since turning the first page. If anyone had not seen and read it, you must. It is as important and revealing as Weston's Daybooks. I have long thought it interesting that Duncan published his retrospective 52 years before he died."

Dave Levingston: "I have that book and, I think, all of David Douglas Duncan's books. He was my original inspiration to become a photojournalist when I checked his Yankee Nomad book out of my library and read the whole thing. When he published I Protest after visiting Khe Sanh during the Vietnam War, I knew I had chosen the right hero."

Iain: "One of photography's most powerful attributes is that it is able to raise the dead."

Comments

[Andrew Kochanowski]

FB link unavailable (that's OK, it's FB).

[SteveAitch]

" I thought I'd pass along a brief but moving comment Jim made on Facebook about what a customer said about one particular book."

"You must log in to continue."

No thanks, not a member and don't have any desire to be. Any chance of a quote?

[Wolfgang Lonien]

I agree with both Andrew and Steve - FB links are so last millenium. Have tried it twice, never will again.

[Andrew J.]

Although I haven't seen a single picture of this book (except the cover kindly republished here), I was also moved by this comment. And I am not American!
The power of photography ?

[Richard Tugwell]

The old Picasso Museum in Luzern, Switzerland was one of my favourite, understated little galleries / museums. I think it's gone now, assimilated into a larger collection. For me the standout was not the Picassos, which were relatively minor, but the large collection of photos by DDD of life chez Picasso which informed everything. Not sure if there is a photobook. He obviously had the sort of access to the Picasso milieu which you touched on in a previous post

[Albert Smith]

I bought "This is war" when it was reissued in 1990. I spent three tours in Korea, and being into photography it was a no-brainers acquisition.

The technical info is a minimalist dream. Every photo but two was made with a 50mm lens, those two made with a 135mm.

He describes his interactions with the troops and his prior service definitely aided his treatment (they shared food) and (call back) access.

Like the Vietnam vet in the post, I always wondered how many troops from the Korean war book had to look upon friends that didn't return.

[Daniel]

It took the Sargent Major a long time to get to the Book. Some of us are a bit younger and still can't/won't get to "The Wall". Yes, it is a memorial but is is a painful one in so many ways. Friends and fellow soldiers names are on it. They are still with us, every day - every hour.

[Richard Alan Fox]

My one DDD book is "Self Portrait USA", the 1968 Presidential conventions.
A very interesting look back at a time not unlike our own of political struggle and polarization.

I remember DDD discovering and championing a NYC photographer who was selling his prints of the city on the street in front of the Time/Life building.

Third memory after clicking on the "At this link" above I found one of my previous comments, I must admit I never did get around to finding the negative of Joseph Koudelka with my Cockatiel on his head, I am pretty sure Ctein would find it of interest.

[Richard Nugent]

Mike, I know that you are a reader and I can recommend an excellent non-photobook on the Vietnam War that I am just finishing: Michael Kerr's "Dispatches", about his three years as a journalist imbedded with combat units all over the country, including Khe Sanh and Hue. It came out of in the early '70s but I just got to it recently. His vivid writing attests to his vision and to his sensibilities. I've read many books (fiction and non-fiction alike) on Vietnam over the years and this is one of the best. Well worth a read.

I've also recently came across several series of interviews on YouTube by different organizations and media outlets with U. S. Vietnam veterans. Facinating stuff and extremely enlightening.

[Mark Sampson]

Several people have mentioned DDD's autobiography, "Yankee Nomad". Only a few years ago, he published his revised edition, "Photo Nomad".
Highly recommended!