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Peter Hurd's War Sketches
In the Spring of 1942, Peter Hurd was seeking
a way to put his NMMI (New Mexico Military Institute) and West Point
training to use in the War effort. On March 20th, that opportunity
arrived unexpectedly in a Western Union Day Letter:
DEAR PETE THE ARMY AIR FORCE IS DOING
SPECTACULAR FIGHTING ARMY AIR FORCE IS LIKELY TO BE THE BIGGEST
ADVENTUROUS EFFORT THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER SEEN HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO
PAINT AND SKETCH THEM...TERMS 2000 DOLLARS AND ALL EXPENSES FOR WHATEVER
YOU GIVE US PAINTINGS SKETCHES DRAWINGS TO BE PUBLISHED IN LIFE AND
PRESENTED TO WEST POINT RANDOLPH FIELD BY THE AIR FORCE WILL MEET YOU IN
SAN ANTONIO TO GET PROPER INTRODUCTIONS AND START WEEK AFTER NEXT IF YOU
ARE INTERESTED...
DAN LONGWELL
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"Now, sitting here in the New Mexico sun, my
experiences with these boys seem suddenly remote in time as well as in
distance. They seem like a band of legendary heroes, although I know
well that they themselves would be the first to scoff at such an idea.
All in all, it was the biggest adventure I have ever had -living the
life of constant excitement that is the life on a bomber station.
"They have the look of veterans, these youngsters
in their late teens and early twenties. United in their supreme purpose,
they has looked death in the face repeatedly and unflinchingly. They are
invariably realists and know well the odds for and against their
survival. but there is in them a will to endure - to endure beyond this
struggle, if not as living men of flesh and blood, then in literature or
in painting. So I have no lack of models.
"One thing was quickly apparent as I grew to know
them well. There is no norm for a flier. They are of many types and
classes and seem to have in common only courage, a love for flying and
above all a belief in America's future as a free nation."
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Peter Hurd as a War
Correspondent for Life Magazine |
