The Empathy Project XIX

This is the one that started it all!

About ten years ago, I took care of a patient who was the 'right blister gunner' (the person who sat with a machine gun in the encasement under the right wing of a bomber) in World War II. We quickly became friendly when he found out that I enjoyed fine art photography, as he was a painter. In fact, he had designed and painted the insignia on the side of the B-29 bomber that he flew in. His insignia denoted a wheel, with each spoke representing something about each person of the crew. One day he  brought  a gift to the office for me. He wanted to give me three old photos that he had, one of the design work he had done before painting the insignia onto the B-29, which he called  "The Big Wheel":

the second was a picture of him and the crew in front of the plane:

and in the third, you can see the insignia that he painted onto the actual B-29:

He loved telling me stories of his days in World War II, and one day I asked if I could record him and take his picture, both of which he quickly agreed to. I arranged for him to have 45 minutes for his next appointment and we talked for most of that time and he gave me permission to use the material in any way I wanted. At the time, I thought that recording these types of stories would make for a really interesting project, but I ended up putting the idea away for ten years before I decided it was time to resume the project in earnest. So let me introduce you to George..... 

George passed away in 2013 at the age of 92.

Subscribe to Motivation Photo Blog by Email