Photos spark search for 1950s era GI
By Meng Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-15 10:29
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A Chinese photographer is hoping to solve a half-century-old mystery after stumbling on three old pictures, including an image of a United States GI thought to be from the 1950s.
Chu Xiaolu, a 25-year-old who runs a photography studio in Haidian district, went online to buy a secondhand Graflex Speed Graphic camera from the US earlier this month.
When the $380 camera was delivered, it turned up along with three Kodak black and white negatives in a box marked July 1955.
"I'm very interested in the story behind the photos," Chu told METRO yesterday. "Is the man still alive? Or was it the last photo of his life?"
Chu posted the photos online yesterday in the hope of learning the identity of the soldier.
He said one of the three photos shows a soldier in US army uniform standing in front of a cabinet. On the right side of the soldier's chest, the name "Jordan" is written on the uniform. The other two photos were of a funeral. No people are recognizable but there is a tent with the word "PUGH" on it.
The photography enthusiast has posted the three photos on xitek.com, the biggest Chinese photography website, and on the US forum Free Republic, hoping netizens will be able to help him identify the man.
He said there have been misunderstandings between people from the US and China in recent years and too little communication. He hopes the photo can become a bridge, allowing more communication between people from both countries.
So far, he has received 120 comments on freerepublic.com.
Based on the shoulder patches the uniform, netizens said he was from the 3rd Infantry division of the US army, which was involved in wars in Asia between the 1950s and 1970s. People also pointed out that there is a PUGH Funeral Home in Asheboro, North Carolina.
Chu's friend, Pan Meng, who is doing a masters degree at Chapman University College in Los Angeles volunteered to take the three photographs back to the US yesterday with hopes of persuading Kodak to help find out more about when the photos were taken.
"From my two years' experience in the US, people there would love to find out the identity of the soldier," Pan said. "I will also try to get support from the press there."