June 2009

Col. Wallace M. Nelson, founder of Combat Camer for the USMC.

by Norm Hatch, Major USMCR (Ret)

An exemplary Marine officer, Col. Wallace M. Nelson who served for 30 years with honor, passed away recently at age 97. His military service will be well defined in other journals but there is one thing that he accomplished that will outlast all of his awards and those of his contemporaries also!  He was the originator of the first Marine Corps Photographic Services in Quantico in 1941! Following is that story.

In 1940 Captain Wally Nelson was stationed in San Diego with the 2nd Bn 15th Marines, an AA unit. During training with 90 mm guns he was impressed with the theodolite motion picture cameras that documented the accuracy of fire on target sleeves. This led him to think about the application of motion pictures to military training films and he took time to visit Disney Studios and Technicolor in Hollywood to further this interest.

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Candidate Biographical Information

Fred Curtis Lash, APR:  Candidate for President – 2009-2010
In April 1983, I was the director of the Public Affairs Bureau—Beirut, assigned to the 22nd MAU.  I had a team of one other officer and eight enlisted Marine photojournalists and we were stationed at the airport.  I made fairly frequent trips to the Embassy, usually paying calls on John Reid, the Embassy PAO.  When the explosion rocked the Embassy on April 18th we had just finished a press conference at the airport.  When we ascertained what had occurred, I dispatched four of my Marines to head to the Embassy and begin documenting the incident and its aftermath.  That team ended up staying in the city (at the Commodore Hotel) for several days.  We also assisted the State Department when Secretary of (more…)