Legality of having old war trophy photos

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We all know that we are not allowed to take photos of dead bodies in war time... Recently, a Seal found that out the hard way...

So, hypothetically, let's say that I had a friend who found a photo album from Korea, that belonged to his dead father. And, let's say, that photo album was full of original black and white pics of dead enemy combatants...

What should I tell my friend to do with it?
 
You can't pose with the bodies, or take "kill shots", but just photos of such bodies is not in and of its self a violation of the UCMJ...context is very important, such as does it "disgrace the dead" or more importantly, does it bring discredit upon the US...reporters and everyone else take pics of dead combatants and "collateral damage" all the time, no big deal.

Tell him to keep them or get rid of them, donate to a museum, but it is certainly not a crime to have possession of them.
 
Anything he wants to do with it. Personally, if I found it, I would keep it in the family with any other war trophies, metals or uniforms.

There are a lot of folks that buy that type of thing. Right after Desert Storm, I remember going to a gunshow in Charlotte and there was a vendor there that had come back from the desert and had a huge photo album with pictures from the fighting out on his table for anyone to look at. He had close up pictures of the "Highway of Death" that was bombed to pieces where the Iraqi troops were bumper to bumper and there were dead troops in all kinds of positions. I specifically remember one picture where the door was blown off of a truck and the door was standing up and the dead guy still had his arm out the window.

There are plenty of pictures of dead soldiers on the internet.
 
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I'm just glad it's not illegal to have them.

Thank you all for the replies...

You already knew, it's not my friend... It's me.

My grandfather retired from the Army and died many years ago. He did over 20 years and fought multiple tours in Korea and Vietnam.

When he was in Korea, he took LOTS of pics; probably 5 albums full. But, one of the albums is full of dead bodies.

When I was a kid, he told me about the album but said, "You can't see it until you are old enough. "

He always wanted me to enlist in the Army, but I always said, "Nope. I'm going to college."

During my third year in college, my grandfather died. Thankfully, I was able to see him on his death bed, before he died. Shortly after, I dropped out and enlisted in the Coast Guard. He didn't see me graduate from boot camp, but my grandmother did! She was so proud, and she would always say that I looked just like him...

A year after boot camp, I volunteered to go to Iraq. On leave, before shipping out, I went to visit my grandmother and I asked to see the album of dead bodies.

She went and retrieved it from its hiding place, and told me that my grandfather carried a camera everywhere in Korea. He knew that, if he had the film developed locally, it'd be confiscated, so he sent all of his film to Sweden. It was then developed and shipped to my grandmother in the USA, circumventing the authorities...

Recently, I acquired all of his photo albums...

I would never give them up. I just wanted to know if having that album in my possession would ever come back to bite me.

I'd be happy to share the photos, if you guys would like to see them. Not sure if they'd be allowed in the basement or not...

One of the albums even has old money from Korea. And, it has "military service vouchers" for US and British service members that they could use like Monopoly money to buy things on base.
 
At lest when you're told you look like your grand dad, it's in a good way.
My grand dad was, by ALL accounts, a horrible person whose mere memory can trigger attacks of PTSD. but apparently I look a whole bunch like him. Yep, I grew up hearing all about that. :(

As for the pics - make a throwaway account to liveleak and upload them. I'm sure plenty of people would be thrilled to see them.
 
At lest when you're told you look like your grand dad, it's in a good way.
My grand dad was, by ALL accounts, a horrible person whose mere memory can trigger attacks of PTSD. but apparently I look a whole bunch like him. Yep, I grew up hearing all about that. :(

As for the pics - make a throwaway account to liveleak and upload them. I'm sure plenty of people would be thrilled to see them.
And usa a VPN.
 
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