Fifth Marine Division

Special Footage

Iwo Jima

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Sergeant Francis Marion Cockrell
[Confirmed]

There are several indicators that the soldier appearing near the end of this video is, in all likelihood, Sergeant Francis M Cockrell being filmed while filming anti-aircraft gunners practicing on board the USS Talladega (APA-208) on January 30, 1945.

UPDATE (5/11/2016): Francis’ daughter, Amanda, confirmed that this is her father.

1) The video description, “5th Marine Division on the attack transport ship USS Talladega (A.P.A-208) en-route to Iwo Jima, January and February 1945”, title, “WWII Marines on USS Talladega”, and markers (see screenshot below) in the video indicate that this is footage of the 5th Marine Division en route to Iwo Jima AND, according to the January 1945 Muster Roll 0794, Sergeant Francis M Cockrell was in the Headquarters (HQ) Company, HQ Battalion of the 5th Marine Division.

2) The last name on the soldier’s shirt is clearly “Cockrell” (see screenshots below) AND, according to January 1945 Muster Roll 0794 and The Spearhead, there was only one soldier with the last name of Cockrell in the 5th Marine Division – Francis M Cockrell.

3) The soldier in the footage is holding a movie camera (see screenshots below) AND, according to the January 1945 Muster Roll 0794, Francis M Cockrell’s Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) was 043 designating him as a CAMERAMAN, MOTION PICTURE {Photographic}.

Video sources:
1) http://www.buyoutfootage.com/pages/titles/pd_dc_536.html#.VzIhXPkrLcs @ 02:45
Note: I am not, in any way, affiliated with BuyOutFootage.com.

2) https://youtu.be/cqPvmWgRxto

Research sources:
1) The Spearhead – The World War II History of the 5th Marine Division.
2) National Archives January 1945 Muster Roll 0794
3) FindAGrave Memorial 18708932
4) Ancestry.com

This is a screenshot from a portion of the previous footage.

In all of the Iwo Jima footage I have watched, I have seen many markers indicating “Cockrell” as the cameraman, but I have never seen footage of Cockrell himself until now.

This is a screenshot from a portion of the previous footage.

Francis on Iwo Jima, 1945. Photo courtesy of Francis’ daughter, Amanda – 5/11/2016.

Francis Marion Cockrell, 1948. Photo courtesy of Francis’ daughter, Amanda – 5/11/2016.

After the war, Francis continued the screenwriter career he had put on hold for the war effort. He had several movie and TV episodes to his credit, including writing 18 Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes two of which he also directed.