WW2 photographer recalls experience

Bud Budvarson did a lot of shooting during World War II, but he never packed a gun around. The 89-year-old Coeur d’Alene man was a news photographer and paratrooper for the Army’s 82nd Airborne from 1944 to 1947. He treasures his Army-issued Speed Graphic camera, in a display case in his living room beside his military trunk of other war memorabilia and below his black-and-white snapshots on the wall. “The camera works as good now as when I got it in ‘45,” Budvarson said. “I’m pretty proud of it.” Budvarson was not deployed overseas during World War II, but served during Task Force Rigid in Fairbanks, Alaska, testing equipment and documenting fellow paratroopers instead. While he wasn’t in combat, there were stressful times. He said he witnessed about 10 men get killed during jumping exercises due to parachute failures/ Brian Walker , Coeur d’Alene Press. More here .

Question: How many of your relatives (including yourself) served in the military during time of war?