US National Archive Video from World War II, combat video reels

I found a website that I think is worth mentioning to other reenactors, it is called WWII REELS and it publishes video from World War II held by the US National Archives. You can find info about Operations MARKET GARDEN, TORCH, and CARPET BAGGER as well as the attack on Pearl Harbor and much more. It is a must see and completely free. Here is the link:
WWIIREELS.COM http://www.wwiireels.com

That's a pretty smart, though a bit shady entrepreneurial idea.
The US National Archives have many thousands of declassified military newsreels - training clips, combat footage, propaganda, divisional combat reels, etc...
They are all free as far as I know, and they are not copyrighted, so anyone who has time to visit the archives and speak with an archival specialist can obtain them for free.

However, there are several mail-order companies in the US who copied many of these reels and sell them on DVD - of course, at a price. Only "teaser" clips are free, you must pay for the full DVD's.

I suppose it's fair - they took the time to order copies from the archives and compile them on DVD's - it's natural they should make a profit.

I have a slight problem with their advertising method - "hard to find combat footage", etc...

The fact is, they are not hard to find at all. Anyone can obtain them from the US National Archives at no cost (well, at a nominal copying cost).

Regardless, compare this with the Romanian WWII newsreels - the Romanian Archives guard them like they are made of gold, and the film is probably rotting away in storage.

It looks to me like their goal is not to make a buck, but to transfer the numerous videos at the National Archives online. Additionally, the cost to get something transferred to video is very expensive. Since the videos are in the public domain, they should be freely available to everyone, regardless of fiscal constraints, and this site aims to do just that. No more paying researchers 30 dollars an hour to transfer a video from film.

If that's the case, then it's an admirable goal! However, are they a non-profit organization, or a company which makes profit?

They are freely available to everyone who is interested. And I don't think you need to pay 30 dollars/hour to a researcher.

The US National Archives have researchers who help you for free, they even do some research for you for free. Yes, if you want a reel converted to video, there is a charge (from the US Archives), but it's reasonable, and there is no need to pay anyone $30/hr, to my knowledge.

Bottom line, I have nothing against the company you mention. They're probably smart entrepreneurs. But I highly doubt that their motives are strictly to make these reels accessible to the public, without making a profit for themselves (a profit to which they are perfectly entitled).

All the best.

This post has been edited by mabadesc on September 20, 2008 09:18 pm

Rumanian Bomb Ruins - "Ruins of Ploesti - General Eaker and General Twining visit the Ploesti oil fields in Rumania to survey the damage caused by the repeated air poundings which the U.S. Army Air Force had administered:

http://www.archive.org/details/1944-11-02_...azi_Strongholds