Update on USO Photo

Well to be more precise, it’s a Hollywood Canteen photo. I published the photo and the portion of my dad’s military service during WWII, back in January 2009. My hope was to see if someone out in internet-land could tell me who the woman was that was embracing him, or anyone else in the photo, and where was it taken. Well in august 2012, Susan commented (see below), saying it was Linda Darnell! It was so cool to have someone know the answer and then take the time to let me know. She also included a link to Linda Darnell’s Wikipedia page. Looking at the dates that the canteen was open and when dad was in California, the photo was taken between Feb ’45 – May ’45, making him just barely 24, she would have been almost 22.USO(1) So, the picture was taken at 1451 Cahuenga Boulevard in Hollywood, California, that’s where the canteen was located. Sadly the building is gone and in it’s place is a parking garage.

My Original Post

This is a picture of my father George (Gus) Gustafson, he’s the sailor. He looks pretty young so my guess is that it was taken between 1942-45. It looks like he was at a USO club maybe. I have no idea where though. He was stateside for most of the war as a Aviation Machinist’s Mate – Instructor. His duty stations were: Dearborn, Michigan, Dec ’42 – Apr ’43; Norman, Oklahoma, Apr ’43 – Feb ’45 and San Diego, CA, Feb ’45 – May ’45. He then was aboard the USS Savo Island (CVE78) from May ’45 – Dec ’45. He received a “Pacific Theater” medal, so I assume that is where the ship was at the end of the war. Sadly my father passed away when I was 18, so although I remember him talking about his war years I don’t really remember specifics. I am trying to do a military time-line with pictures, as a remembrance of my dad’s service.

To me the picture looks like all the USO publicity photos of the war years. Does anyone recognize anyone in the picture? Please click on the written by line, if you’re a member, to contact me with any information and/or ideas of how I could find out who the other people in the picture are and/or where and when it was taken. If you’re not a member please leave a comment below.