The 1000

Yard Stare

 

Thomas Kilgore, Macon, Georgia Hero

Pfc. Thomas W. Kilgore, of Macon Georgia, 121st Infantry (Georgia National Guard)
near Hürtgen on December 7, 1944.
This photo of Macon's Thomas Kilgore was used in numerous publications in 1944 because it symbolized the loneliness and fatigue of war.

After the war Thomas Kilgore returned to Georgia and worked as an electrician in the maintenance department for the Bibb County Board of Education. He never married and lived in the same house where he grew up in the Peach Orchard neighborhood of south Macon. Thomas passed away on February 25, 1982 at the age of 68.

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Hero of World War II from Minnesota

 

PVT Theodore James Miller

This famous photo of Pvt Theodore J. Miller was widely distributed in the United States after Miller's death, and was one of the few to openly portray the stress of combat to the American public.

United States Marine Corps Private Theodore James Miller (February 12, 1925 - March 24, 1944) of Hennepin County, Minnesota assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 22nd Marine Independent Regiment returns to Coast Guard-manned attack transport USS Arthur Middleton (APA-25) at 1400 Hours after two days of combat on Engebi. Engebi was the first of the Eniwetok Atoll to be invaded by American forces. In Operation "Fragile" the 1st and 2nd Battalions landed on February 18, 1944, with 3rd Battalion in reserve. In the attack on Engebi American losses were 78 killed, 166 wounded, and 7 missing, totaling 251 casualties. All of Engebi's defenders were killed, except for nineteen prisoners taken. Miller himself was killed in action during the invasion of Ebon Atoll a month later. 25 Japanese, including six civilians (two women and two children among them), put up a 20-minute fire-fight that left Miller and another Marine dead and eight others wounded.

I found these photos on the World Wide Web as I was seeking the look of the 1000 yard stare that was frequently used in magazines during World War II. To me these individuals represent the many Heroes of World War II.