Book Review: "War Shots"

On a hot June day at Ar-lington National Ceme-tery, retired Marine Maj Norman Hatch attended the funeral of a fellow Marine combat photographer, Col Wally Nelson. (Nelson, my grandfather, is mentioned in pages 53–55 of the subject book of this review.) As the Marines fired the last of the three-volley honor salute, lightning struck the hill behind the columbarium, and a large thunderclap rattled across the funeral party, both of which were captured by Quantico combat cameramen recording the service. Norm later told me that he’d muttered to himself at that moment, “I guess the rifles just weren’t loud enough for Wally.” Norm Hatch’s wry humor is also evident throughout Charlie Jones’ most gratifying book about a great Marine.

I’ve known Norm for some years through my grandfather, and this book is a superb recapitulation of the wide range of contributions Norm made to our Corps over the years. I learned more about Norm in 1999 while writing a Gazette review of the book, Shooting the Pacific War: Marine Combat Photography in World War II (The University of Kentucky Press, 1999), written by one of his fellow Marines, Thayer Soule. At retired Maj Rick Spooner’s venerable Globe and Laurel restaurant, I commented to Rick, a veteran of the battles of Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa, that I was reviewing the first definitive book about Norm Hatch. Rick enthusiastically stated that it was nice to see this great Marine’s contributions documented in one place for all to see at Norm’s young age of 90.
   
Jones’ writing style is exceptionally clear, informative, and well researched as he weaves Norm’s key contributions into the major turning points in our Corps’ history, such as the Pacific landings in Tarawa and Iwo Jima. Most Marines learn quickly that chance is a significant factor in their careers’ development, and this applied to Norm’s career as well. Beginning at the start of Norm’s service in 1939, the book relays a theme of officers asking him, “Norm, what the hell are you doing here?” Norm always happened to be in the right place at the right time to witness key events in our Corps. Adding to chance was Norm’s aggressive drive to make a positive difference and contribute to our Corps through improvisation. In particular, he broke new ground in combat photography and motion picture film. Until World War II the Marine Corps did not have a combat photographic services branch. Then the Commandant, Gen Thomas Holcomb, directed BGen Robert L. Denig and Capt Wally Nelson to organize combat photo. Norm Hatch and his Marines went to Hollywood and picked up the latest training from the entertainment business along with camera equipment from secondhand stores in Los Angeles and New York. While with 2d MarDiv, his team created a spellbinding motion picture film that President Franklin D. Roosevelt personally approved for release despite graphic footage of combat between Marines and the Japanese in Tarawa. Much of Norm’s footage was used in With the Marines in Tarawa in 1943 (film available online at www.mca-marines.org/leatherneck/video/marines-tarawa-full-movie). The film’s Academy Award statuette resides at the Tarawa exhibit at the National Marine Corps Museum. Somehow throughout that desperate fight Norm and his Marines kept their 35mm Eyemo cameras going. Charles Jones relays that “throughout the furious action, he worried more about his cameras than about himself. The intense heat, dampness, and sand were taking a toll.” On Iwo Jima, Norm sent his best camera crew up the hill to document the flag raising and worked with Associated Press (AP) photographer Joe Rosenthal. Norm Hatch was rushed back from Iwo to the Navy Annex in Arlington to help the commandant, Gen Alexander Vandegrift, negotiate no-cost rights to the Iwo Jima AP photo.
   
After the war as President Truman and the Army questioned the future of the Marine Corps, then-LtCol Victor H. Krulak was a member of the Chowder Society, a group of officers designated to argue for the continued existence of the Corps. One day, LtCol Krulak came to Norm asking for footage to showcase the value of the Corps to Congress. Interestingly, Krulak’s book, First to Fight (Blue-jacket Books, 1999), does not mention the monumental contribution that Hatch’s 1947 film, Bombs Over Tokyo (available online at ), made to-ward saving the Corps. This persuasive movie was quickly cobbled together to show how the island-hopping campaign made possible the defeat of Japan in World War II.
   
War Shots is a rewarding read for Marines of all ranks. Norm always took care of his Marines. Norm’s credo of how to run his life is wise counsel to all Marines, “It was looking for the next thing, never standing still and waiting for something to come to you. You had to go out and look for it.” His relationship with Washington’s press corps continued for 70 years, and to this day, Norm continues to campaign for this generation to realize the importance of what they are documenting, and he cautions our Corps to maintain good records of our photo and film footage of Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, because a new generation of Chowder Society members may need it again.

WAR SHOTS: Norm Hatch and the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Cameramen of World War II.
By Charles Jones.
Stackpole Books, 2011
ISBN 0811706311, 240 pp.
$27.95 (Member $ 25.15)