A.B.C Whipple Dies At 94: Life Photographer Who Published WW II Photos Of Dead American Soldiers

Greenwich, CT – A.B.C Whipple died after a battle with pneumonia. A.B.C Whipple’s death was reported later in the week by his son, Chris Whipple, who was with A.B.C. Whipple during his last moments on Sunday.

A.B.C. Whipple made his mark during WW II by pushing for the publication of a photo by George Strock that went up against photo censorship rules. The 1943 photograph captured three dead soldiers that lost their lives in an attempt to storm the beach at Buna, New Guinea.

At the time, A.B.C. Whipple was a Pentagon correspondent for Life magazine. Whipple kept working his way up the military ranks until an assistant secretary of the Air corps at the Pentagon decided to send the issue to the White House.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt eventually cleared the photo and paved the wave for ending the censorship rule in the United States. The decision also increased public support for the war.

Chris Whipple spoke about this moment in A.B.C. Whipple’s career:

“I think that he felt this was a watershed in the course of the war. I think that he felt that in his own way he had made a real contribution. I think he thought it was a special achievement and probably the most important thing he did as a journalist.”

A.B.C. Whipple was an executive editor at Time-Life Books and also worked as a reporter for Life during the 1950s. He was age 94.