Ogden man captured scenes of triumph and tragedy with a camera

By David W. Meyer

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 1:38pm

David W. Meyer left Weber College to serve in World War II, and before he came home, he saw more scenes of courage and carnage than most. The Ogden native shot with a camera for the Army Signal Corps. He spent part of the war as a combat photographer, often at or near the thick of the action, documenting scenes of triumph and tragedy, as well as the quiet moments of U.S. soldiers.

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Former Ogden resident David W. Meyer, center, and friends were trained to disassemble and repair cameras by the Eastman Kodak company, in New York, prior to shipping out as World War II combat photographers.

David W. Meyer (front row, camera on knee) was among a group of photographers trained by Eastman Kodak, then given abbreviated combat training before heading to Europe to serve as combat photographers.

David W. Meyer (far right) was among a group of photographers trained by Eastman Kodak, then given abbreviated combat training before heading to Europe to serve as combat photographers.

This is the type of camera used by by World War II combat photographers. In some situations, the flash was removed.

On Jan. 10, 1945, PFC William Reynolds, Augusta, Ga., kneels beside a crater made by the bomb that killed his buddy.

In 1943, David W. Meyer draws a cartoon as fellow combat photographer J.M Heslop, an Ogden native, looks on.

David W. Meyer often sent cartoons home through V-Mail. This one shows him after an assignment in England, photographing buzz bombs. His cartoon self jumps as a buzz bomb shows its disrespect.

David W. Meyer posed for this photo between the airborne invasion of Holland and the Battle of the Bulge. He was in England, and had just been assigned to Paris.

David W. Meyer sent cartoons home through V-Mail. This one depicts him chasing a buzz bomb, which he was assigned to photograph.

On Jan. 24, 1945, PFC Henry Elmer, Flushing, NY, looks at a hole in his coat made by shrapnel from German artillery, which burst above him.

On Jan. 24, 1945, Capt. Marvin Utter, a chaplain with the 7th Armored division, assists with first aid for a wounded infantry member near St. Vith, Belgium. The infantryman lost his leg.

On March 25, 1945, Ogden native J.M. Heslop took this picture of Jasper Champ, of Mississippi, relaxing after enemy opposition was cleared in Ensdorf, Germany.

Book binder Henri Martin (left) helped David W. Meyer (center) assemble the volumes of photographs destined for Dwight Eisenhower. Jean Rau (right) served as the men’s French/English interpreter.

Two G.I.s and a civilian climb a light post in Paris to celebrate the end of World War II.

David W. Meyer, just after the war, was asked to serve six more months to help document a few more projects. One project was the recovery of body of a downed fighter pilot, whose plane had crashed in the yard of two elderly ladies, who buried the body.

After the war, David W. Meyer made a rocket training film that was used at military bases.

After the war, David W. Meyer, pictured in his Scout leader’s uniform, made a film about nitrogen fertilizer produced as a biproduct of the Utah steel industry.