PFC Verl Luzena
Army Air Force
4th Combat Camera Unit
D-Day, Belgium, Germany ’42-‘45
Army Air Force
4th Combat Camera Unit
D-Day, Belgium, Germany ’42-‘45
Verl was a junior at Miami University of Ohio when the Japanese bomber Pearl Harbor. Rather than wait to be drafted, he enlisted on July 22, 1942. One month later he married Ruth Gray who was also a student at Ohio University.
Verl wanted to be a pilot but his pilot training wasn’t going as he had hoped so he chose photography. He learned how to use a camera from a family friend and took pictures around the family farm and worked his way up to weddings. He tested 100% in the photography aspect of the Army aptitude tests and was assigned to the 4th Combat Camera Unit. He trained at Lowery Field in Denver and was sent to Hollywood to learn how to use motion picture cameras. While living in Culver City, he and Ruth had the opportunity to meet movie stars including Alan Ladd and Mickey Rooney. Ronald Reagan was the paymaster for the Combat Camera Unit.
Verl eventually shipped off to Europe. Initially he was based in England at an airfield and he filmed the daily takeoffs and landings of bombing missions. Verl was attached to an engineering unit on D-Day and landed 11pm on June 6th. He recalls taking cover under a truck that first night. Verl eventually worked his way up the beach on the third day after the landing and saw a large plume of smoke. It turned out to be an allied munitions dump that had caught fire and the ordinances were now exploding. Verl took cover in a ditch and found himself among an all-black unit.
While in France Verl was involved in finding ways to mount cameras to the wings of fighter planes. The 35mm cameras were wired to the guns and followed the shooting. At the end of a mission Verl would send the film to England to be developed. He never saw his footage but it formed a portion of the newsreels. Verl was at the Liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge and the fall of Berlin.
When the war ended Verl was honorably discharged and went back to the University of Miami. Surprisingly, Verl did not have a career in photography or filming. He went on to become a very successful chemist.
Thank you Verl for recording history.
Verl wanted to be a pilot but his pilot training wasn’t going as he had hoped so he chose photography. He learned how to use a camera from a family friend and took pictures around the family farm and worked his way up to weddings. He tested 100% in the photography aspect of the Army aptitude tests and was assigned to the 4th Combat Camera Unit. He trained at Lowery Field in Denver and was sent to Hollywood to learn how to use motion picture cameras. While living in Culver City, he and Ruth had the opportunity to meet movie stars including Alan Ladd and Mickey Rooney. Ronald Reagan was the paymaster for the Combat Camera Unit.
Verl eventually shipped off to Europe. Initially he was based in England at an airfield and he filmed the daily takeoffs and landings of bombing missions. Verl was attached to an engineering unit on D-Day and landed 11pm on June 6th. He recalls taking cover under a truck that first night. Verl eventually worked his way up the beach on the third day after the landing and saw a large plume of smoke. It turned out to be an allied munitions dump that had caught fire and the ordinances were now exploding. Verl took cover in a ditch and found himself among an all-black unit.
While in France Verl was involved in finding ways to mount cameras to the wings of fighter planes. The 35mm cameras were wired to the guns and followed the shooting. At the end of a mission Verl would send the film to England to be developed. He never saw his footage but it formed a portion of the newsreels. Verl was at the Liberation of Paris, the Battle of the Bulge and the fall of Berlin.
When the war ended Verl was honorably discharged and went back to the University of Miami. Surprisingly, Verl did not have a career in photography or filming. He went on to become a very successful chemist.
Thank you Verl for recording history.