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Photos: War veteran turned photographer recalls WWII on 75th anniversary
Seventy-five years after World War II ended in Europe, Tony Vaccaro is one of the few people alive who can claim to have survived the Battle of Normandy (WWII) and COVID-19. Now, at 97, he is recovering from COVID-19. He attributes his longevity to “blind luck, red wine” and determination. Vaccaro documented the reconstruction of Europe and returned to the US where he worked for magazines such as Look and Life and has fond memories of photographing celebrities including Sophia Loren, John F Kennedy, Georgia O'Keefe and Pablo Picasso.
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Tony Vaccaro poses for a photo at his studio in Long Island City in the Queens borough of New York in this image from March 21. Vaccaro, 97, fought WWII as part of the 83rd Infantry division in Normandy. On top of his military gear, he also carried a camera, and became a fashion and celebrity photographer after the war. COVID-19 caught up with him last month. Like everything bad life threw at him, he shook it off, attributing his survival to plain "fortune." (Maria Vaccaro via AP)
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A recent photograph of Tony Vaccaro. Aged 97, he is recovering from COVID-19. He might have caught the virus in April from his son or in their neighbourhood, his daughter-in-law Maria told AP. He was in the hospital two days and spent another week recovering. (Manolo Salas via AP)
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This 1945 photo shows photographer PFC Tony Vaccaro on the wing of an airplane during WWII. Vaccaro, 97, was thrown into WWII with the 83rd Infantry division which fought, like Charles Shay, in Normandy, and then came to Schmetz's doorstep for the Battle of the Bulge. (Tony Vaccaro via AP)
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In this 1944 photo titled "Firing Line" by Vaccaro, American soldiers are seen in Germany's Hurtgen Forest. Vaccaro’s grit carried him into a lifetime of photography that began as a combat infantryman when he stowed a camera and captured close to 8,000 photographs. (Tony Vaccaro via AP)
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In this 1944 photo titled "Hell In Hurtgen,” Vaccaro shows an American soldier in Germany's Hurtgen Forest. Vaccaro attributes his longevity to “blind luck, red wine” and determination. “To me, the greatest thing that you can do is challenge the world,” he told AP. (Tony Vaccaro via AP)
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This 1960 photograph by Vacarro shows artist Georgia O'Keeffe posing with her painting "Pelvis Series, Red with Yellow" in Taos Pueblo, New Mexico. After WWII, Vaccaro documented the reconstruction of Europe and returned to the US where he worked for magazines such as Look and Life. (Tony Vaccaro via AP)
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Artist Pablo Picasso in Mougins, France, as photographed by Vaccaro in 1960. (Tony Vaccaro via AP)
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In this Saturday, June 7, 2014 file photo, US Secretary of State John Kerry and World War II photographer Tony Vaccaro, right, attend the inauguration of the Tony Vaccaro Square, in front of the Saint-Briac-sur-Mer city hall, western France. (Jean Sebastien Evrard / AP)
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