About Glenn Kappelman
After returning home from World War II, Kappelman re-enrolled at the University of Kansas, in Lawrence Kansas and completed a Bachelor's degree, majoring in International Relations in the Political Science Department. Other than occasional family snapshots, he never pursued photography again.
"People often ask me what we had on our minds while we were fighting, what we were fighting for. I think my general attitude of the war was it was a big adventure, one of travel, seeing foreign places, seeing vast amounts of men and equipment, and I found that interesting. I probably had that on my mind more than any idealism. But on the other hand, I think we were aware we were fighting for our freedoms. The casualties were so common that it was just part of the day's operation. You were sorry that it happened but, at the time, you had your own job to do and you couldn't really become very emotionally involved. Now, as I look back 50 some years, I think about it, I feel bad about it. But I think my strongest attitude was just one of adventure and survival, and the bigger issues would take care of themselves."
- Glenn Kappelman
Kappelman passed away on April 1, 2004, at the age of 81.
Article from the Lawrence Journal-World about Glenn Kappelman
How the Photographs Were Taken
Comments from Glenn Kappelman.
My sister had given me a Kodak 616 camera in 1941 when I graduated from high
school. How she ever decided to get me a camera I don't know, but that was
a real gift. I'd taken only a few rolls of film between the time of the gift
and when I left for the Army. I didn't know anything about photography. It
is a totally manually-operated camera. All the pictures were taken without
light meters or any kind of light calculations, other than just my guess. Film
was hard to get, especially for a 616 camera, so I took all that I could muster.
And that was the biggest frustration about taking pictures, you always had
a limited amount of film and you knew it and it was always on your mind: Do
I take this picture now or will I get a better shot later? I passed by many
good shots because I thought there'd be better opportunities than there were,
both in training and combat. Fortunately, my parents continued to send film
in food packages, both to camp in the United States and abroad when I was in
Europe. And I was always checking for film in abandoned pharmacies in towns
throughout Germany.
I probably took about 750 photographs during my military training, time in Europe, and return home; most of them with that particular camera. Late in the war, I was given a German Agfa camera, which was a lucky break because I could get film in Germany and in Austria for it. Most of the late pictures at the end of the war and my return home were all taken with the Agfa.
- Glenn Kappelman
Sample Letters
Liberated Troops
VE Day
There was no discouragement to have a camera in camp. People were taking pictures all the time of their buddies. But by the time we arrived on the East Coast, that's when they said, you have to send your diaries home, have to send your cameras home, can't take them abroad. That's when I sent my diary home and put my camera in my gas mask. They didn't look in it during inspection at the port. We had to lay out everything on the dock. They didn't see it and so I took it with me. I was cautious in how I used it. I didn't take any pictures on the dock. I didn't take any pictures on the ship. I didn't take any pictures going down the west coast of England. I didn't take any pictures until I was finally in a replacement camp out on the sand dunes of Devon, and we were no longer in cramped quarters. That's when I felt confident to photograph.
I carried the folded camera in the left breast pocket of my field jacket most of the time. In every case I tried to put the names of the people in the photographs, the date and the places.
Not many soldiers were taking pictures of maneuvers and equipment, it was mostly just people or buddies. A lot of times they were a bunch of clowns, and I'd get pictures of them when they were clowning, having fun as well as working.
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