On World Photography Day, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Air Corps Veteran Roger Hal McKain, who served as a photographer during World War II.
Roger McKain was born and raised in Willoughby, Ohio. He worked at the Ohio Rubber Company in their photostat department prior to entering the Army Air Corps in March 1943.
McKain received his military occupational specialty, a photographer, while at basic training in Atlantic City. After completing training, he took the Queen Mary to begin his service in the European Theater.
McKain served as a photographer in the U.S. Army Air Corps’ 8th Air Force. He spent two and a half years in Europe, stationed in England, France and Germany. In England, McKain experienced routine V1 and V2 air raids. While in Germany, Roger was asked to attend public relations school in Wiesbaden and later, in 1945, he ended up in the photo department at Erbenheim Aerodrome. Roger left the Army as a corporal.
Following Roger’s honorable discharge from the Army, he continued his career in photography. He spent four years working for a newspaper primarily processing newspaper standards. Most of his early work consisted of black and white photography. He would not work with color photography until around the time of his retirement. Roger took great pride in processing the pictures himself. He lived in Ohio after the war and passed away in 2012.
We honor his service.
You can learn more about Roger’s story at the Veteran’s History Project:
http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.27737/
Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay
Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.
It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.
Veterans History Project
This #VeteranOfTheDay profile was created with interviews submitted to the Veterans History Project. The project collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war Veterans so that future generations may hear directly from Veterans and better understand the realities of war. Find out more at http://www.loc.gov/vets/.
Contributors
Editor: Ashley Levi
Graphic artist: Kimber Garland
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I would like to make mention of my dad, a fellow veteran who served under Gen. Patton during WW11
during the Battle of The Bulge earning himself 3 Bronze Stars! Dad exited the military with the rank of Tech 5 I think they called it. He never spoke of the war and I discovered his rank and 3 Bronze Stars only upon his death! This killed me that I was not aware of these facts while he lived. Dad was extremely humble and modest having never mentioned this to me. I volunteered for the ARMY September of ’69-’71 and honorably discharged as Sergeant. I was offered a promotion to Staff Sergeant at 20 months of time in service but declined to reenlist. I really enjoyed my military service time in my life. I did 18 months of active reserve duty and was promoted to SSG a month before exiting the ARMY Reserves.my father was
Edward Wilson Broome from Monroe, NC
We honor the service of Army Air Corps Veteran Roger Hal McKain.