| Original caption: “Private First Class Margerum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, walks the road through a peaceful forest in the Bastogne area, as he returns from the front lines.” United States Army Private 1st Class Francis E. Margerum (February 27, 1925 – May 13, 1995) of the 3256th Signal Company returns from the front lines when a 166th Signal Photo Company photographer, Technician 5th Class Don Ornitz (February 29, 1920 – January 14, 1972), captured this image of him walking alone on a Belgian road. Margerum was deeply concerned that publication of the image would earn him “hell” from his Sergeant, as walking along drew sniper fire. But Margerum was cold, tired, and hungry, and just wanted to get back to camp. Note his M1 Garand rifle and canteen just below it. The 3256th Signal Company was activated in the United States on April 12, 1944, and arrived in the United Kingdom on April 24, 1944. The unit trained in England from May 5 to July and moved to Normandy in August 1944. Attached to the 69th Signal Battalion, the unit provided communications intelligence by gathering Nazi German radio traffic for the Headquarters of XX Corps. During the Ardennes Campaign, the unit was temporarily assigned to the 3rd and VII Corps through January 1945 during their drive on Bastogne. The 3256th Signal Company served in the Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe. Returning to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, the 3256th Signal Company was inactivated on January 28, 1946. Technician 5th Class Donald R. “Don” Ornitz wrote that upon entering a village near Bastogne, “I found my friends — their clothes blown to shreds hanging, caught on trees (I’ve got photographs), their bodies dead, loss of blood; you could see the quantity — measurable on the snow. My pictures were used, but not the ones I wanted seen — my friends are dead.” Don Ornitz’s father, Samuel B. Ornitz (November 15, 1890 – March 10, 1957) was 1 of the “Hollywood Ten” and was sentenced to prison for refusing to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). He spent 4 years in prison. His brother, Arthur J. Ornitz (November 28, 1916 – July 10, 1985), was a famous cinematographer. Don Ornitz was a photographer for several magazines, including Playboy, Travel and Camera, The Saturday Evening Post, Look, Pageant, Globe, Sports Illustrated, and LIFE after World War II. Edward Steichen (March 27, 1879 – March 25, 1973) selected 1 of his photographs for the 1955 Museum of Modern Art international exhibition “The Family of Man,” which was viewed by 9,000,000 people. Marjoram completely forgot about the photo until he saw it displayed at the National Archives during their World War II 50th anniversary exhibition. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0331.jpg |
| Image Size | 673.61 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 2328 x 2892 |
| Photographer | Donald R. Ornitz |
| Photographer Title | United States Army Signal Corps |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | December 27, 1944 |
| Location | |
| City | Bastogne |
| State or Province | Wallonia |
| Country | Belgium |
| Archive | National Archives and Records Administration |
| Record Number | 111-SC-199296 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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