Did a Google image search, found a lot more info in the USMC subreddit:
Pfc. Faris "Bob" M. Tuohy (born 1924) from Ohio, a US Marine with the 3rd Battalion, 22nd Marine Regiment, sips a cup of well-earned coffee alongside his fellow Marines aboard the mess deck of transport ship USS Arthur Middleton (APA-25) after surviving the two day fight for Engebi Island in the Enewetak Atoll, during the Battle of Enewetak. Engebi, Enewetak Atoll, Marshall Islands. February 19, 1944.
USS Arthur Middleton history extract for February 19, 1944: "The securing of Engebi went well and mopping up operations were in progress before nightfall. Five Japanese prisoners were brought aboard and the transport also received a total of 76 Marine casualties aboard by evening."
Like much of the combat in the Pacific, the fight for this tiny island was a brutally violent affair, evident in the expressions and appearance of these three survivors. To the right of Bob Tuohy is Pfc. Stephen Garboski 399460 (born 1921) from Ringoes, New Jersey. He would be killed in action during the Battle of Guam in July 23, 1944, believed to have been a victim of friendly fire from an USAAF aircraft. The unnamed man in the center of the photo is thought to have died on Okinawa in 1945. Bob Tuohy survived the war. He married Ruth Tavenner and according to online records, both are still alive today.
Photographer: CPhoM Ray R. Platnik
Would link to source, but can't, tough luck. Maybe we should all pressure the moderators to change this idiotic restriction.
When I was young (1960's) we had a next door neighbor who was one of the happiest guys around. Father of a large family, always laughing, coaching local sports teams, just an all around great guy. When he passed away the obituary included a blurb that he was a WW 2 Marine who had gone ashore in one of the first waves during one of the Pacific island campaigns. It quoted him telling his story soon after returning from the war where he described wading through blood soaked water full of battered body parts and losing numerous friends. It was hard to imagine that it was the same guy driving around the neighborhood with the station wagon full of kids twenty years later.
herpderpa on June 13rd, 2021 at 16:21 UTC »
The one closest to the camera looks like a child but then I remember joining the Army at 17 and see a picture of myself and say the same thing.
art-man_2018 on June 13rd, 2021 at 17:22 UTC »
Did a Google image search, found a lot more info in the USMC subreddit:
Would link to source, but can't, tough luck. Maybe we should all pressure the moderators to change this idiotic restriction.
Durhamfarmhouse on June 13rd, 2021 at 18:19 UTC »
When I was young (1960's) we had a next door neighbor who was one of the happiest guys around. Father of a large family, always laughing, coaching local sports teams, just an all around great guy. When he passed away the obituary included a blurb that he was a WW 2 Marine who had gone ashore in one of the first waves during one of the Pacific island campaigns. It quoted him telling his story soon after returning from the war where he described wading through blood soaked water full of battered body parts and losing numerous friends. It was hard to imagine that it was the same guy driving around the neighborhood with the station wagon full of kids twenty years later.