Will Thurland's World War II Photo Collection

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Will A. Thurland of Christiansted, St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944, a year after the Selective Service Act of 1940 was made applicable to the territory in World War II. The photographs are taken with a Kodak Brownie camera. The photographs and stories are of the Virgin Islands Orchestra and the Virgin Islands 872nd and 873rd Port Companies and their military journey in Puerto Rico, New Orleans, Louisiana and Hawaii. The photographs also include the VJ Day Parade in Oahu, Hawaii in 1945 at the end of World War II, the 1946 Tsunami in Hawaii, the men working, on furlough or the orchestra playing in New Orleans and Hawaii in addition to life after service. Also included are newspaper clippings from the local newspapers as those back home kept track of the enlisted men's activities. The book also has a glossary. Will was instrumental in organizing the Virgin Islands Orchestra. The music of the orchestra provided a distraction from a segregated army and the Jim Crow laws that Virgin Islanders would not get accustomed to. The orchestra was well received wherever they were stationed, for their unique style of music such as quelbe, Latin music, popular big band music and military marches. Members of the 873rd Port Company contributed greatly to the US. Virgin Islands after military discharge and produced the 2nd and 4th elected governors of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Cyril E. King and Alexander A. Farrelly, legislators, commissioners, successful businessmen, many in government and public service, in addition to several members of the Virgin Islands Orchestra who continued to share their musical talents in the Virgin Islands. Note: A separate file with the back cover text has been submitted in Word titled "WT-BackCoverText-Fin