17 December 2024
This year marks 80 years since legendary Australian war photographer Damien Parer was killed filming US Marines in action on the island of Peleliu in the Palau archipelago on September 17, 1944.
So it was fitting that both US and Australian C-130 Hercules came together to air drop the first Christmas bundles over the Republic of Palau as part of this year’s US-led Operation Christmas Drop, held from December 4-17.
The aircraft flew over the area where Parer was killed in action filming the Magnificent Seventh – the US 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, in a battle with Japanese forces.
A memorial service was also held in Peleliu on September 17 for Parer, while a display acknowledging his achievements as a war correspondent was opened two days earlier at the Peleliu World War 2 memorial museum.
Australia’s Ambassador to the Republic of Palau, Richelle Turner, said 2024 marked several historic moments: the first RAAF flight dropping a Christmas bundle over Palau; 30 years of diplomatic relations between Australia and Palau; and commemorating war correspondent Damien Parer.
“Damien Parer will always be remembered in the Republic of Palau and we were honoured to conduct a memorial service in Peleliu to reflect on his life and work,” she said.
However, Parer’s legend and history also lives on in other small but notable ways that link the Australian’s service and his connection to the US Marines.
Most notably, the unit patch for the ADF’s 1st Joint Public Affairs Unit (1JPAU) incorporates elements of the 1st Marine Division patch in recognition of Parer.
'Damien Parer was the personification of a war photographer and it is important to honour his legacy ... He knew that to get great photographs, he needed to be with the troops on the front line where the action was.'
The 1st Marine Division patch features a blue diamond with a number ‘1’ at the centre, as well as white stars to represent the Southern Cross, which the marines fought under at Guadalcanal in Solomon Islands.
The US patches were first produced at a local embroidery shop in Melbourne when the marines were on recreation leave in 1943.
When 1JPAU was stood up in 2002 it took the same design elements – the stars in a diamond formation with the number 1 – as part of its own patch to honour Parer and his connection to the marines.
Warrant Officer Ray Vance, 1JPAU imagery specialist and Sergeant Major, said that 1JPAU’s photographers and public affairs officers continued to capture today’s operations and activities to tell the story of the ADF and record key moments in military history.
“Damien Parer was the personification of a war photographer and it is important to honour his legacy,” Warrant Officer Vance said.
“He knew that to get great photographs, he needed to be with the troops on the front line where the action was.”
In another small piece of history, one of the members of 1JPAU was on board the RAAF C-130 filming the first airdrops released as part of this year’s Operation Christmas Drop.
Damien Parer leaves behind a legacy that makes him one of Australia's finest war photographers.
He was the first official Australian photographer of WW2 and his work filming the troops on the Kokoda Trail was used in the Academy Award-winning documentary Kokoda Front Line.
