The Snapshots in Time Collection

Pelican and Moored Launch in a Tropical Harbor -- General Wainwright Photo Album, 1949

Pelican and Moored Launch in a Tropical Harbor -- General Wainwright Photo Album, 1949

This candid snapshot from General Jonathan M. Wainwright's 1949 personal photo album captures a quiet harbor scene -- a pelican resting on still water beside a moored launch, framed against a palm-lined tropical shoreline. General Wainwright, who commanded US forces at Bataan and Corregidor and survived over three years as a Japanese prisoner of war before his 1945 liberation and Medal of Honor award, kept personal albums documenting his life after military retirement. Unlike the wartime images for which he is remembered, this photograph reflects the everyday moments of a public figure's postwar travels. Project: 218339