Matthew Lafayette Aaron ("Fate" Aaron)

Item Information

• Description
  Caption by photographer (Andrews): "Born Jan. 10, 1919 at Callands, Va. Grew up on a tobacco farm, enlisted in the Army in 1941, fought as an infantryman through North Africa, then as a Ranger through the Sicilian and Italian campaigns. Discharged November, 1945. Wounded three times in what he called "three years of continuous combat." As a Ranger he was usually at the forward most front of the fighting. He has suffered since his discharge with severe PTSD and alcoholism. In spite of that, as well as his physical wounds, he was a successful tobacco farmer until he retired in 1994. He lives on the same farm where he was born. Up to this time I have not been able to convince Mr. Aaron to agree to an oral history. When I made this photograph, he said, "I was a nice fellow when this picture was made (the portrait of himself he is holding), before I went overseas. Since then, I don't know, I just never been the same." This is part of the disabled veterans series."

• Item ID
  japph040020010
• Source Collection
  Jesse Andrews photographs, Rubenstein Library, Duke University
• Print Number
  JA_POR_77-19
• Spatial Coverage
  Virginia
  Pittsylvania County (Va.)
• Provenance
  The Jesse Andrews photographs were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchase in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2011.
• Title
  Matthew Lafayette Aaron ("Fate" Aaron)
• Creator
  Andrews, Jesse
• Extent
  11 x 14 in.
• Date
  None
• Box Number
  Box 4
• Type
  Image
  Still Image
  photographs
  black-and-white photographs
  documentary photographs
  portraits
• Subject
  Veterans

• Copyright & Usage
  The copyright in the materials included in the Jesse Andrews Photographs collection are owned by the photographer. The photographs are made available by Duke University Libraries, with permission, for the purpose of research, teaching, and private study. For these purposes users may reproduce single copies of the images from this website without prior permission, on the condition that proper attribution is provided on all such copies. For all other uses, and especially for any proposed commercial uses, researchers must contact the Library to request permission.