Found Footage is National Treasure

Posted by Miss Cellania in Media on November 11, 2008 at 11:13 am


Tony and Albert Fagler of Englewood, Colorado were cleaning out their grandparent’s home after their grandmother died in 2000 and found three canisters of 16mm film. They took the film to the local TV station, but it was so old and brittle that the TV station sent it to the Library of Congress to be converted to video. There, historians asked that the original film be donated to the national archives. It contained footage of Tony and Albert’s grandfather Albert Fagler in World War II, including scenes with their grandmother, whom he met and married in England during the war.

There was another reason why the Library of Congress wanted the original films. They are a treasure trove of historic video of the aftermath of D-Day.

They contain cockpit video of American fighter planes in dogfights over the skies of France and Germany.

There is also footage of American planes taking out German convoys on the ground and attacks on ships.

The photographer also documents American soldiers on the ground in their advance across the French countryside.

The film has been called a national treasure, and will be available for future historians. Link (with video clips) -Thanks, SenorMysterioso!


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COMMENT

12 comments to "Found Footage is National Treasure"

  1. renderanything
    November 11th, 2008 at 11:24 am

    I love cool old stuff like this. Interesting to see that each clip is prefaced with such detailed information including commanding officer and mission number. Also of interest was seeing real planes and ground targets take damage, not just Hollywood’s reinterpretation.

  2. noahstrickland
    November 11th, 2008 at 11:48 am

    I agree, i just got that “time” vietnam series and there was a bunch of great footage that you would never find elsewhere, even the history channel is all “stock” footage.

  3. MENLOHEAVYWEIGHT
    November 11th, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    That is awsome, I cant’t wait to see that footage.

  4. silentwatcher24
    November 11th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

    Those have to be amazing videos.

  5. Sannhp
    November 11th, 2008 at 1:37 pm

    You can see some clips at the linked site.

  6. Rocky Rook
    November 11th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    Wow! I’d buy the DVD if it ever comes out!

  7. Ali S.
    November 11th, 2008 at 2:13 pm

    Since today is Remembrance Day and Veterans Day I think it would be prudent to say that if you have any folks who fought in WW1 or WW2 to ask them to write down or record their experiences.

  8. stormie24
    November 11th, 2008 at 2:46 pm

    I agree Ali, it would’ve been neat to have their grandmother’s commentary to go along with the film.

  9. mallory
    November 11th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    This is so cool. It’s a shame that we don’t hear more stories like this on days other than Veterans’ Day.

  10. seekshelter
    November 11th, 2008 at 6:04 pm

    that is amazing footage…. got nothing more to say than that..

  11. mrmuggles
    November 11th, 2008 at 9:52 pm

    Wow.. that’s crazy how valuable stuff can be forgotten about. Do you think that in the future we’ll have news like :
    Old USB key found containing old pictures of a guy using an IPhone! The Key is called a national treasure!
    Mmmm.. maybe not.

  12. Christophe
    November 12th, 2008 at 1:04 am

    I always wonder how many surprise attics are still out there?


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