I began this index to make it easier to find information about some of the early Naval photographers. I was initially indexing only names of people. It was quickly obvious that the rank, or rate, of individuals changed. I thought about listing the rank, or rate, with each reference. There are at least two problems with this system. First, entries in the paper are not listed in date order. Second, the rank, or rate, of each person is not listed each time they are listed. If I entered the rank, or rate, only when specified, there would be numerous references without the rank, or rate. Because of these reasons I decided to list just names. Then I found that people were often listed with just their last name. The rank, rate, or job was usually used when there was no first name or initial. Therefore, I decided to put this rank, rate, or job, in parenthesis, after the last name if that was all I had. Later I decided to add possibly related information, in parenthesis, as an additional piece of information about an entry.

Another anomaly that I found was that sometimes names were misspelled, or incomplete. Lyman Goodnight, for example, is often listed as either Lyman Goodnight or Lyman E. Goodnight, and at least once as Lyman A, Goodnight. He is always listed in the Index as Lyman E. Goodnight.

Admiral Husband E. Kimmel is listed as “Hessband Kimmel” and I was fairly certain that it was not correct so I checked some other books and listed him in the index as Husband E. Kimmel with Hessband Kimmel in parenthesis.

Admiral A. D. Fraser is usually listed with his current rank and initials throughout the paper. In his biography, his full name, Archie Donald Fraser, is given and that is the name I used in the index. There is also one entry for D. F. Fraser and I believe that the initials, in this entry are in error. I listed Fraser, D. F. in the index and it falls immediately after Fraser, Archie Donald. Therefore any reader should find both entries.

Another name problem that I found, on page 152, was a list of six of the Navy’s top admirals. Five were immediately obvious although the last character for Admiral Mitscher was an “s” rather than an “r” and the sixth was Admiral Hawsley. I did not recognize that name but I suspect that it might actually refer to Admiral Halsey. I indexed this name under Hawsley and added a reference, in parentheses, to Admiral Halsey. In most instances where a name might be entered in two, or more, ways, they will be adjacent to each other.

Val Vancuren is mentioned on page 176. His name was actually Van Kuren (I might have the spelling of Kuren wrong but that is how it was pronounced) and that is the way he is listed in the index with Vancuren in parenthesis. He was the Chief Engineer at the Naval Photographic Interpretation Center when I was a student there in 1950 - 1951 and while I was stationed there in 1952 - 1955.

I think that the Army Captain George Godart, on page 22, is the same person as the Lt. George Goddard on page 97, and the Colonel George Goddard on pages 166-168. Since these names are adjacent in the index, I listed them as they appeared.

CAMERAS, AIRCRAFT, SQUADRONS, AND SHIPS

I didn’t get very far before I decided that they should be added, so I went back to the start and included them.

There are references to two Marine Photographic Squadrons, VMD-154 and VMD-254. There is a possibility that they are the same squadron and that an error occurred in the original paper. Therefore, in the index, they still appear adjacent to each other.

EYES OF THE NAVY

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATIONS, COMMANDS, AND GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS

I also decided to include these in the index. I believe they add to it’s usefulness. I decided to list government agencies, and fixed commands, by their geographic location. Late in WWII, Admiral Nimitz moved his command (Commander in Chief Pacific Ocean Area) to a forward location in Guam. JIGPOA also moved operations to Guam. They are listed in both locations in the index.

MILITARY ACTIVITY
I also indexed various military activities which I thought might be of interest. For example, check to see why the sailors were singing on the way to the head at the Agana Air Base on Guam. The reaction, in Okinawa, to the false report of a Japanese surrender was also worth mention in the index. I was also interested to find that the Navy was discussing “gyroscopic stabilization for airplane photography” in 1921. I never used a Gyro Controlled camera mount until I reported to VJ-62 in 1955.

AWARDS

Awards to commands, and individuals are mentioned throughout, and sometimes a specific award is mentioned more than once. I added this category so that they appear together in the index.

CAMP KEARNY MESA/MIRAMAR

Early Photographic squadrons were listed at Camp Kearny Mesa. Later they were at Camp Kearny NAAS. Still later they were at the Miramar Naval Air Station. These were all the same location and appear, as such, in the index. In 1947, I reported to VPP-1 at MCAS Miramar. While I was there, the Marines left and it again became NAS Miramar. I understand that it is again MCAS Miramar.

William T “Bill” Hocutt PHCS, USN (Ret)