This collection contains a photograph album (1944-1945) kept by Raymond Drew (of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) while he was a member of Marine Photographic Squadron 254 (VMD-254) during World War II. His squadron later became a part of Squadron 954 (VMD-954). This squadron was based in Greenville, North Carolina, and the album contains photographs of the Greenville base and of Pacific Theatre battle sites.
Raymond A. Drew was born on August 5, 1924 in Milwaukee, WI. At the age of 18, he enlisted in the US Army in March of 1942. His enlistment period was during World War II and he served in the Marine Photographic Squadron 254 (VMP-254) which was based out of Greenville, NC. Following the war, he married Marion Puhek and had five children. Raymond Drew died on April 5, 2005 at the age of 80 and is buried in the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery.
Marine Photographic Squadron 254 (VMP-254) was acting from September 25, 1944, til November 30, 1949. The squadron was originally set to be a replacement training squadron but began to prepare for overseas deployment in March of 1945. The squadron's first echelon departed in July of 1945 and was aboard the USS Appling upon the Japanese surrender. The squadron returned to California in 1946 in February and began mapping Southern California through photographs. On November 30, 1949, the squadron was decommissioned following post-war downsizing of Marine Corps Aviation.
This collection consists of a photograph album (1944-1945) kept by Raymond Drew (of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) while he was a member of Marine Photographic Squadron 254 (VMD-254) during World War II. Included in the album are black-and-white photographs of citizens, temples, streets, landmarks, ruins, and buildings. A short description is written underneath each photo and includes the locations where they were taken. The majority of the photographs were taken in various municipalities in China, Korea, and Japan. A few photographs were taken in Greenville, North Carolina and California.The album also contains materials such as maps of the VMD-254's routes, images of army cemeteries and photographs of various locations in Okinawa, Japan
Gift of Tom Drew
Gift of John P. and Gay S. Bland
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