Cape Ann World War II Veterans Project

11 thoughts on “Cape Ann World War II Veterans Project”

1. Sorry late responding veterans what a great shot – the needs of the team always outweigh the needs of the individual a brother one a brother all for life! God bless you all! 🙂 Dave

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2. I am having a visceral reaction to the photograph on this post which shows four vets. Please understand that this is a powerful emotional topic for many people. The so-called “greatest generation” and the “baby boomers” that followed them, and all the people in between who might be related somehow to people who served in WWII are all of us caught up in this very important thing, which is remembering. I notice that the aggregators, editors, webmasters, and photographers who are manipulating these powerful images have elsewhere taken this group of four vets, and further squeezed them in with many more old people, apparently in order to draw the attention of a casual viewer. When I see the photo of the four vets, I feel (I know deep inside) that these are human beings, and that each of them has a tremendous complex life story, and it looks like they’re probably not dead yet, and I’m guessing they’re articulate too and not yet confined away and photographed simply for the purpose of the viewer’s pity. So to the photographer or to anybody else responsible for presenting these images on the internet, please exercise some sensitivity when assembling these things, and acknowledge that they are very emotionally powerful for many viewers. Do not use these humans to grow your audience and make a little bit of money. Use cronuts or seagulls if you must, but please don’t do that to vets.

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   1. I’m not sure if I could disagree with you more about Jason Grow’s intent or sensitivity. But I don’t think I should be surprised. Out of all the positive things posted on these pages you’ve never once offered a complimentary word. Everything you’ve written is a critique. If you don’t like the blog, there’s a bazillion other websites that may please you.

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      1. I would have let it all be, without comment, except for the fact that it is so emotionally charged. When you know that something important has happened that affectied people’s lives, and most of those people are gone. I am not able to really put into words. I always try to offer something worthwhile whenever I share thoughts on social media. I have put some positive things on social media, but lately, it seems that with so much knee-jerk sarcasm, the effort required for building something up is a thousand times greater than the effort required to rip it right down. So my first instinct when I saw this blurb was to try to raise some awareness. I think it’s wonderful how social media can bring people together, but I am naturally skeptical that WWII vets themselves are using social media in any significant numbers. I was critical of the come-on photo, and I know absolutely nothing about the project, I never suggested anything along the lines of “hands off my vets”. I have no idea what anybody’s intent might be, I am pointing out a glaring blind spot, that people who grew up surrounded by computers often are unable to percieve. I have no plans to build a new phone company or construct a new Facebook. The subject of WWI vets interests me, so the next thing I would do is check the website, and if I had sufficient enthusiasm, I might want to inform my friends. I am not going to mindlessly press some button simply because I have some momentary feeling of guilt I want to unburden on others. If I wanted to share this project electronically, the right way, it might take me 20 mintues. I would try to find a suitable image. Possibly one of the vets has a compelling story, and I suspect he has a real name that is more significant than a six point font would imply. If I chose to feature the image of the vet, I would show him proper respect as a person, and not use him in any way that might smack of exploitation. If I were to use Facebook, I would write my own text explaining what I thought was important and take the trouble to refer my friends to the important details about how they could become involved.

         In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Lohman was not really able to get any proper respect on his own, but there was one character who pointed out, “attention must be paid”.

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         1. Your quotes-
            “I was critical of the come-on photo, and I know absolutely nothing about the project”
            “If I wanted to share this project electronically, the right way, it might take me 20 mintues.”

            So instead of spending 20 minutes sharing great news honoring vets you spent 20 minutes bashing a project which you just got done saying you know nothing about.
            It’s who you are. In your DNA. To show how morally and ethically superior you are by ripping other people’s efforts which you tell us you know absolutely nothing about.

            Oh and your finish is brillinat as well
            your quote-
            “In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, Willy Lohman was not really able to get any proper respect on his own, but there was one character who pointed out, “attention must be paid”.”

            Attention must be paid, really? Attention musty be paid except I’m not going to spend any time looking into what the project is all about. LOL, My lord the hypocrisy.

            So congratulations. Spend another 20 minutes ripping on other people’s work instead of contributing something positive to the world, so you can show everyone how superior you are to everyone else.

            If you don’t like the way information is presented on these pages I suggest you find someplace else to offer your enlightened critiques.

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         2. I am in my happy harmonious place, content with all creatures great and small. Then I get this email and click on the link and see that photo again and the voices start all over again. “These appear to be people who did great things, so why have they been posed and squeezed in together in one photo like so many Anne Geddes babies dressed up for Halloween?” the voices ask me. I have come up with a possible solution. Joey, you are spot on, and all social media are flawless. I can’t think of a single thing Joey typed that I disagree with. The project is worthy as worthy can be. Now harmony abounds.

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         3. Wouldn’t “I am a miserable, negative solipsist with verbal diarrhea” be a smarter (and, please god, shorter) way of saying the same thing?

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3. I read “solipsism”, and I have been thinking about “solipsism.” I think I now have a clearer understanding of how and why the photograph on this page represents solipsism on the part of the person who concocted the image file. I am going to live concerts and I have to control my anger when I see people pull out their phones in order to instantly post a video, precisely at the most exciting, interesting part of the show. It seems to me this represents a person who lives solely within himself. At some deep level, they are unwilling or unable to experience life directly, unless they can somehow capture it and compile it and broadcast it to others in order to validate themselves. “Binders full of women” is also a phrase that came to mind. I don’t necessarily care about Mitt Romney’s politics, but I thought that when he uttered that phrase, it was an interesting peek into the way he thought about the world. He’s a busy guy, so he needed to hire individuals who were 1) humans 2) female 3) and qualified, and somebody collected for him some of those candidates all of whom happened to have had just one of those characteristics. So in his head, he organized it that way, “binders full of women”, because it’s convenient. He should have been aware of 1) his internal thinking and 2) his public speaking, and said something like “for example, this individual named Sue Smith (making the name up) who is a very qualified woman, and this individual named Sarah Jones, who is a very qualified woman. Possibly the end result was the same … he hired some qualified women. But he was a lazy thinker and a lazy speaker, and he gave us a peek into his solipsistic soul, where all he was really concerned about was becoming President. So this photo looks to me like a “binder full of vets”. Maybe instead, say, we have this ONE incredible vet named Joe Warner, here’s his photo, and if you are interested in him, there are many others with their own unique stories…

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   1. You still haven’t clicked on the link and tried to comprehend even the slightest bit what Jason Grow is doing here have you? Because if you have read the story of Jason’s Project then you come off as a bit daft.

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      1. On a scale from one to ten of people I’d like to have a conversation with at a party this guy would rank a negative bazillion.

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4. Is Randy Lane in this

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