%#\D* Macromedia!

June 28, 2006 2:04 PM

My uncle died last week at 86. In World War II, he was with the O.S.S. in the China-Burma-India theater and on 8/17/45 parachuted into the Shantung peninsula to liberate the Weihsien internment camp from the Japanese (this was the camp that Eric Liddell died in - he was the English 1924 Olympics runner in Chariots of Fire). There is an online exhibit at the Smithsonian American History museum with a picture of him and three others at Weihsien (page all the way down, next to last picture on the right, he's on far left). My question: when I click on the picture to enlarge it and then attempt to right click it to save it, up comes a Macromedia Flash Player script & no joy. Is there any way I can save this enlarged picture to my hard drive? Help of Mavens of MeFi! http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/printable/section.asp?id=9&sub=8
posted by Pressed Rat to computers & internet (24 comments total)

Press the Print Screen key to take a screenshot, paste the screenshot into your favorite image editor, save.
posted by rxrfrx at 2:05 PM on June 28, 2006

In case you don't know how to do that or the instructions aren't applicable to your OS, I've captured the picture and mailed it to the address in your profile.
posted by bac at 2:09 PM on June 28, 2006

There may be a better way to do what you want (but I don't know it). I always do what rxrfrx said; except Press Alt+PrtScrn and you'll copy only the active window instead of the entire desktop - should give you a bigger/better image to paste.
posted by dragonbay at 2:12 PM on June 28, 2006

Click the above, then save.

For a better picture, contact the woman who apparently possess the original, Mary Taylor Previte.
posted by orthogonality at 2:13 PM on June 28, 2006

That was very nice of you Bac and Orthogonality
posted by crewshell at 2:21 PM on June 28, 2006

If you go directly to the Flash file at this URL, you can get it to display in a full-size window, which will let you take a larger screenshot.
posted by staggernation at 2:24 PM on June 28, 2006

Yeah, I met Mary a few years ago at a reunion but wanted the electronic version. Thanks for the help, all.
posted by Pressed Rat at 2:26 PM on June 28, 2006

Mary Taylor Previte probably has the photo because she took it -- or at least was present when it was taken!

Mary Taylor Previte’s extraordinary work and talent as an educator, writer, and public official demonstrate a variety of successful ways in which she has built communities and encouraged the fulfillment of dreams. Born in China in 1932, the daughter of missionary parents, she was imprisoned for three years during World War II in a Japanese concentration camp. Separated from her parents for 5 ½ years and surrounded by guards with bayonets and dogs, she learned survival at the age of nine. Her most vivid childhood memory is the sight of American troops parachuting from the skies to liberate the Weihsien Concentration camp.

So your uncle parachuted in to liberate her. I'm sure she'd want to know he'd passed on; maybe you could send her a copy of the obituary and the program from the funeral service, and ask nicely for a copy of the photo.
posted by orthogonality at 2:27 PM on June 28, 2006

Oh, nevermind.
posted by orthogonality at 2:27 PM on June 28, 2006

orthogonality - There's also an article in the July/Aug 2006 World War II magazine about Mary & Jim Moore (my uncle) & the liberation of Weihsien. She's stayed in touch with him ever since renewing contact several years ago. Not a bad idea bout the obits......
posted by Pressed Rat at 2:33 PM on June 28, 2006

Minor point, but Eric Liddell was Scottish. Born in China, granted, but definitely not English.
posted by the cuban at 2:40 PM on June 28, 2006

Right you are, the missionary school that Jim went to as a child (my grandparents were missionaries in China in the 1920s & 1930s) in Cheefoo was run by the English - my mistake.
posted by Pressed Rat at 3:04 PM on June 28, 2006

I'd try contacting the museum itself and reference your story. They might tell you where they got the photograph (Archives or their own holdings?) and might go so far as to tell you how you can get a reprint or what not.
posted by Atreides at 3:20 PM on June 28, 2006

By the way, my condolences about your uncle. I just did a thesis on a topic in the CBI, it was quite an interesting place to be and the OSS were always up to no good (I.E. fun) in and around it.
posted by Atreides at 3:21 PM on June 28, 2006

you can also get the image if you view the source of the flash pop up and copy/past the url to the jpg. but of course it's a small one so you won't be able to get that great of a print out of it (if you wanted a print).

also, my condolences.
posted by eatcake at 3:24 PM on June 28, 2006

Condolences, and may I say, your uncle kicked ass.
posted by LarryC at 3:29 PM on June 28, 2006

The graphic is actually stored as tiles at various magnifacations, e.g. http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/img/graphics/2214_or/TileGroup0/3-[0-7]-[0-5].jpg. I took the liberty of stictching these together for you for a final size of 1740 x 1474 here.
posted by Rhomboid at 4:02 PM on June 28, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also if you right click on the page and view source, about half way done you will find this "img src="../img/graphics/2214_l.jpg". This starts from the current address so the location of the webpage here is the file that the website uses.

However, my advice write the webmaster and see you they have a better scan
posted by kashmir772 at 4:34 PM on June 28, 2006

Thanks all, for taking the time to help. So much of this was helpful I hate to mark a best answere, but thanks particularly rxrfx, bac, dragonbay, staggernation & rhomboid.

Atreides, in case you're interested, Jim was in the FBI at the beginning of the war (in fingerprinting). After Pearl Harbor, the FBI needed agents & Hoover started making all the clerks special agents (including my dad, who was in the communications center when word of Pearl came in).

Jim was actually underage and not quite 23 at the time, although he was in law school. He later went into the Navy as an ensign, although seconded to the O.S.S. because he knew Mandarin Chinese, having grown up in Cheefoo. He was part of U.S. Naval Group China and knew Milton ("Mother") Miles, who you may have come across in your research. Miles later wrote a great book about his experiences in the CBI, "A different Kind of War," well worth trying to score a copy of on ABEBooks.com (where I got mine).

Following the war when the OSS was disbanded, he briefly joined the State Dept., which had the only active intelligence operation, until the CIA was formed, which he joined and stayed with until retirement. He was in Dallas when Kennedy was shot (No, he never would talk about it).

He was just a real easy-going, modest & humble guy. My cousin, his son, told me at the funeral it wasn't until he himself was 50 that Jim ever mentioned the Weihsien mission. That type of reticence is typical of many of the WWII vets. The national commander of the CBI veterans' organization was at the funeral - he was equally self-effacing about his exploits. So many of these guys are going every day now - it really is a shame.
posted by Pressed Rat at 5:02 PM on June 28, 2006

My Dad served as a Navy communications officer in the South Pacific at the start of WWII. He never talked about much of it until a few years before he died. When he finished talking about it, he told me that he was eternally grateful that none of his children or grandchildren ever fought in a war.

My condolences and thanks for your post.
posted by jabo at 9:54 PM on June 28, 2006

Pressed Rat,

Thanks for the information, I did enjoy it. And yep, I know of Miles, though from the sources I used he was not often placed in a good light. Course, none of those sources were Navy. The pull and tug between the OSS and the Naval Intelligence is an interesting part of the intelligence war in China, as the OSS wanted freedom to do what it wanted and the Navy (Miles) wanted to have control over all the intelligence activities. Per the SACO treaty (basically a cooperative intelligence agreement), Miles was second in command of all Intelligence operations after Dai Li (One of Chiang's intelligence chiefs).

I've not read this book, but only come across references to it in other sources. I'll look into grabbing a copy. A good book on the OSS in China just came out a few years ago,
OSS in China: Prelude to the Cold War, by Maochun Yu. I enjoyed it except for the author's conclusions on the participation of John Paton Davies with the OSS, but otherwise a good book that follows the OSS's attempt to setup in China and the troubles that followed.
posted by Atreides at 5:36 AM on June 29, 2006

Atreides

The "A Different Kind of War" book by Miles goes into some detail over his close relationship with Dai Li (who the Brits particularly hated) and Mile's differences with the OSS, as both they & the Navy jockeyed for influence.

I have the book you link to, but haven't finished it yet - so many books, so little time to read. I note by a quick check at ABEBooks that the cheapest copy of Miles' book is $50, which sucks. I got mine for around $20 & when received it turned out that it was signed not only by Adm. Arleigh Burke (who wrote the forward) but by Miles' wife as well.
posted by Pressed Rat at 7:19 AM on June 29, 2006

Very nice find. Nothing is more fun than finding a book priced considerably below the average value. I just picked up for $30 a unit history to my grandfather's WW2 unit that usually runs between $100 and 160.

I sympathize with the too many tooks, too little time. I have a backlog of my own to deal with at the moment. If you're interested, I'll send you a list of some of the sources that I used in my thesis. Albeit, they are skewed towards my thesis topic the Dixie Mission.

From all that I've read, it seems it was a rather mutual and understandable hatred between the Chinese and the British.
posted by Atreides at 7:47 AM on June 29, 2006

Yeah, I'd like to see your sources. My email's in my profile. Thanks.
posted by Pressed Rat at 10:00 AM on June 29, 2006