How to Find Photos of Soldiers in the Korean War

Th Korean War Memorial in Atlantic City, New Jersey, includes images from soldiers who served.

The Korean War was waged from 1950 to 1953. Many soldiers who served are now in their 80s with worn photographs taken nearly 60 years ago. Recent advances in photo technology allow photos from that era to be digitized and preserved. These photos include personal photos from individual soldiers, pictures from veteran organizations, official military photo archives pertaining to the war, and special exhbits from news organizations taken by their war correspondents. The easiest and fastest way to search for these photos is online, using a website search engine.

Instructions

1. Access your Internet search engine of choice. Type "Korean War photos" into the search field. Click the search button to bring up a listing of pages featuring websites with Korean War photos. Scroll down the list to find photos that interest you and view all the pages that result from your search. To narrow your search to a specific year or topic you want to find, refine your search by entering more specific information into the search field, such as "Korean War Photos 1952" or "Korean War combat photos."

2. Contact the Korean War Veterans Association. This organization is comprised of soldiers who served in or near Korea from June 25, 1950 to January 31, 1955. KWVA is a resource if you want to get in touch with any of the members or learn about the war from the perspective of its surviving veterans as individuals. Issues of the group's "Graybeards" newsletter dated 2005 to 2008 are linked to this organization's website, and each newsletter includes several photos of the organization's members.

3. Contact the National Archives' Archival Research Catalog page for the Korean War (see Resources). Click the yellow search button on left to access the search page. Click the "Digital Copies" search button at the top of the ARC page first so your results will be digital images; if you do not click "Digital Copies" first, you may access text about archive holdings rather than actual photos. Enter "Korean War photos" in the search box and photos from the war will appear on your computer screen.

Tips & Warnings

• The United States National Archives and Records Administration is a repository for national records, including military ones. Many photos have been digitized, including photographs of ground crews, transport planes, paratroopers, and prisoners of war.

References

• MyWarHistory.com: Pictures Taken By Military Service Heroesos
• Bevin Alexander: Korea
• U.S. Army Center of Military History: Army: Korean War Photos
• Scmooop: The Korean War Photo: American Soldiers
• RT 66: Korean Ear: Combat Photos, Personal Accounts History

Resources

• National Archives: Selected Photographs from the Conflict in Korea
• National Archives: Search the Archival Research Catalog
• Korean War Veterans Association