Photographer records history during WWII

    In life people tend to put things off and never really get to those tasks.
   William Coleman, however, is finally doing something that he has put off since his return from World War II.
     In the fall of 1943, Coleman, an Army medic, was sent to Europe for the Italian campaign at Salerno.
    When he left for Europe, he took two cameras and bought a third in Naples.
    The cameras became a part of his uniform; whenever he woke up, he put them on and was never seen without one.
   Coleman basically “shot,” via the camera, his way from the boot of Italy northward fighting the Nazis out of Italy.
   The pictures Coleman took show a country at war and the resiliency of the Italian people.
   Now, according to Patricia Richards, NE photography instructor, Coleman is showing others what he saw years ago.
   In 1945 Coleman returned to the United States. However, cost and time prohibited his printing the more than 100 negatives.
   In 2002 at the age of 82, Coleman came to Tarrant County College, enrolled in photography classes on NE Campus and was finally able to print his WWII photographs, Richards said.
   Those photos will be on display from Thursday, Nov. 6, through Dec. 8 on the NE Campus in College Hall (NCAB 112).
A Veteran’s Day (Tuesday, Nov. 11) reception 7-9 p.m.in College Hall will honor the former optometrist and photographer.