"Sgt Bob Casey - of 17th Tactical Recon Sqdn, poses with a belt of 50 cal machine gun ammo. Lingayen Strip" From "Darkroom Soldier": "Photo Gunners. Two men in Hill's Photo Reconnaissance section, his friends Sgt Earl Powers and Sgt Bob Casey (above), moved up the pay and death risk scales by becoming 'photo gunners' -- the men on combat air crews who operated reconnaissance cameras and -- if necessary -- machine guns. As Hill wrote to Martha, these new photo gunners would be 'eligible for Staff Sergeant, in line for Tech Sergeant, and on flying status, which will add up to about $200 a month' additional income. Hill later reported that 'Casey is gone now most of the time. Suppose he'll gradually drift away, as socially, the gunners are quite a clique. He may even move in with other combat crewmen next time we set up camp.' In another report, he noted that 'Bob has been working with the ordnance boys all day long again today. Familiarizing himself with the entire set-up -- loading, threading, cleaning, servicing machine guns.' Both men survived the war." ("Darkroom Soldier" caption authored by George Venn)

Fred Hill World War II Photographs, Pierce Library, Eastern Oregon University

Bob Casey, Photo Gunner 1