Nows and Forevers

My father gave me some of my grandfather’s photos a few weeks ago, which had been rescued from my aunt’s house when she moved. My grandfather has been dead since 1976 and my grandmother since 1994, and my aunt joked that a lot of the material hadn’t seen the light of day in at least 70 years.

I got more photos. My grandfather was an Army combat veteran in Europe, and he brought a camera along with him, from training through every battle between D-Day and after the Bulge. This is one of those photos. I only know what it is because my grandfather scrawled on the back:

“First (leading battery) of 302nd C.A.B.B. Bn executing eyes right as it passed reviewing officers on retreat parade, Saturday, Sept. 5, 1942.”

Can’t tell you where it was — somewhere where the 302nd Civil Affairs battalion was being trained here in the States — but at least we know when it was.