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Lundy applied his drawing skills to what was around him—training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina; forced marches; men at rest; New York harbor; aboard ship in the Atlantic crossing; Cherbourg harbor; and French villages. Though Lundy original enlisted in the Army Special Training Program, by 1944 the Army needed reinforcements, and Lundy and his company were thrown into the infantry. Vivid portraits of fellow soldiers and frontline scenes also fill the pages. In 2010, Victor Lundy looked through the sketchbook images with Library staff and commented on the drawings and his experience in the war. The full audio and a transcript are available through the Veterans History Project (see Related Resources).
Below is a visual index to the eight volumes of sketchbooks that enables researchers to view the sketchbooks and their contents in sequence. (Note: The numbering scheme for the sketchbooks reflects those received by the Library of Congress and does not take into account any sketchbooks that were apparently created but that are not extant.) Each entry features a representative image and quotation as Lundy sketches his way from May to November. The entries list each sketchbook title, volume number, and a link to the online images, which will display in page number sequence.
Victor Lundy's comment:
"...they're at rest, because you know, when you're on a forced march there's no way I can draw. So the other guys would be snoozing, sleeping, and I'd be sketching."
Victor Lundy's comment:
"I'm a New York City boy, I mean, I was born in the middle of Manhattan Island. So, in a way, the infantry was my first true experience in the country, so I ate it up, I was an eager beaver. I mean, the old guys liked me, loved me, you know? Hey, we got a real one! So I used to sketch at night, South Carolina woods."
Victor Lundy's comment:
"...The brass: the entire division was assembled, and we were told about D-Day. But there we were at Fort Jackson, South Carolina."
Victor Lundy's comment:
"...I remember getting on the deck and here were these guys, and that's just what they were saying, Son of a bitch!"
Victor Lundy's comment:
"...And you know, we were far from even thinking of combat. They didn't tell us. We didn't know what was going to happen, once we landed... --you know, the day it happens they tell you."
Victor Lundy's comment:
"...Then, we're in Cherbourg! And let me tell you, at that point, you begin to gulp, because I think it was in Cherbourg that we saw some of the real battle-hardened 4th Armored Division guys going there for a well-earned rest, passing in trucks and looking at us all squeaky clean."
Victor Lundy's comment:
"...we would see that in Normandy but also when we were in combat, at least two times, and boy, did that cheer us up on the ground."
Victor Lundy's comment:
"Finey Towery, he's the guy who sang that song, I was really intrigued by him. I think he was a sharpshooter, very good at that, but he was killed."
