My father served in the U.S. Naval Armed Guard in World War II .  The Armed Guard was considered to be the second most hazardous assignment in World War II, after the Marines. The photo below shows my father performing one of the less hazardous parts of his duty while aboard the S.S. Daniel Drake while the ship was near Archangel, Russia.
Frank Danko aboard the S.S. Daniel Drake
SOURCE: Frank Danko aboard the S.S. Daniel Drake (near Archangel, Russia). Photographed by unknown photographer in the winter of approximately 1943-1944.
While my father was serving in the military, my mother was living in Worcester, Massachusetts. The photograph below shows her with three of her friends. My mother is the girl in the upper left. Her best friend, Peggy O’Leary, is the girl in the upper right . I don’t know the identity of the other two girls.
Jane Niedzialkowski, Peggy O’Leary, and Friends
SOURCE: Jane Niedzialkowksi, Peggy O’Leary, and Friends (Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts). Photographed by unknown photographer in winter, early 1940s.
Written for the 64th Carnival of Genealogy – A Winter Photo Essay.
Copyright © 2009 by Stephen J. Danko
It might have been one of his less hazardous duties but it looks cold AND damp. It must have felt like a very long war to him!
Evelyn in Montreal
A Canadian Family
Nice photos, Steve. Looks like your mother’s (unidentified) friends had lots of fun playing in the snow as evidenced by all the snows on their clothes.
Thanks for your comment, Eveleyn! My father spent his first Christmas and New Year’s after joining the Navy on a mission to guard war supplies to Murmansk, Russia and the Eastern Front. I’m sure he would have preferred to be home for Christmas that year!
Hi Dru! Yes, my mother’s friends look like they had a lot of fun in the snow. If you look at my mother, though, she has snow on her mittens, but not much anywhere else!
Steve