World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseHoward W. Whalen joined the United States Naval Reserve early during the Pacific War. In Oct 1943, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. In Oct 1944, he was assigned to the newly commissioned attack transport Sanborn, entering the front lines with that ship later that year. In Feb 1945, Sanborn operated off Iwo Jima during the invasion, and he was responsible for guiding amphibious tractors and landing craft from the ship until they landed Marines and equipment on Blue Beach 2, the northernmost of the Iwo Jima invasion beaches. Even though regulations forbade it, he took numerous pictures of the operation with his personal 35mm Leica camera. He was reprimanded for taking the photographs, but was able to retain the film after the war. He retired from active service at the rank of lieutenant commander and became a high school history teacher and then an educational administrator at Bakersfield, California, United States. He also remained with the Naval Reserve until Apr 1962. After his passing in the 1990s, his wife Nadine Whalen donated the 35-mm Kodachrome slides to the United States Navy Naval Historical center in Aug 1997.

ww2dbaseMany of Whalen's photographs can be found in the photograph collection section of WW2DB.com.

Photographs

Photographs Taken by Howard Whalen

Maps

Howard Whalen Timeline

Visitor Submitted Comments

Show older comments