Before commencing his long & distinguished career as an architect, 19yo Victor Lundy captured life at an American GI.

He drew out his experiences from training at Fort Jackson (May 1944) to his journey across the Atlantic and then his time in France. In total, he produced a visual diary with 158 pencil sketches brings to life the wartime experience. Lundy applied his drawing skills to what was around him—training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina; forced marches; men at rest; the PX and tents; New York Harbor; aboard ship in the Atlantic crossing; Cherbourg Harbor; and French villages. Many vivid portraits of fellow soldiers and frontline danger also fill the pages. The sketches cover May to November 1944 when Lundy was wounded, with some gaps where notebooks were lost.

The eight surviving sketchbooks are spiral bound and 3 x 5 inches—small enough to fit in a breast pocket. Lundy used black Hardtmuth leads (a drawing pencil) and sketched quickly. “For me, drawing is sort of synonymous with thinking.”

He later donated his sketches to the Library of Congress. On this Memorial Day, it’s well worth taking some time to dwell with them.