Frank Frazier - Mickey Strand - Veterans Series

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The Veterans Portrait Series

Mickey is a retired Navy Photographers Mate, Chief Petty Officer, and was the Leading Chief of the Navy's elite Combat Camera Group Pacific. Mickey's current focus is the Veterans Portrait Series, which documents veterans' stories of service. He is focused on our Worlds' Greatest Generation. The veterans of World War II. 

Mickey interviews each Veteran, collecting and writing their service stories, archiving these notable historic figures and their stories for generations to come. Mickey has collected and displayed images and stories from over 100 warriors that at one point, signed the dotted line when our country needed their sacrifice of service most.  Mickey continues to collect Veterans from all services for the Veterans Portrait Series. In 2019 this body of work was displayed at the Palm Beach Photographic Centre Museum from Nov 11, 2019 — to March 1, 2020.

Mickey and the project were in the national spotlight, featured on the Sunday Today Show with Harry Smith Today Show Link to YouTube.  See the Google 360 Virtual walk through from the Palm Beach Museum Exhibit. Enjoy, and thank you for your help with this project. In 2022 Mickey has photographed over 25 more WW2 Veterans and will be hosting a print show in San Diego in November with an open house on Veterans Day.

Featured Veteran

Richard H. Wehmeyer
US Army Air Corps
First Lieutenant
World War II

 Richard H. Wehmeyer was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, on February 3, 1923. After graduating from Beaumont High School in January of 1941, he attended Columbia University in New York. Richard hoped to join the Army Air Corp (AAC) and enter the pilot training pipeline. He finished two years of credits at Columbia by attending classes full time, including summer and breaks, accelerating his completion the minimum requirements to qualify for the Flying/Aviation Cadet Pilot Training Program.
 In March 1943, he reported to Grand Central Station in New York City for induction to begin pilot training. He passed his medical screening and boarded a Pullman car bound for Kessler Field in Biloxi, Mississippi, to attend Army Boot Camp. Now a Cadet, he was paid $50 base pay & $25 flight pay, the same as a Private. Cadet Wehmeyer reported to Elon College in North Carolina for 30 training days. He continued to Nashville for the Pilot Program, followed by Montgomery, Alabama, for classroom training, followed by Basic Flight at Clarksdale, Mississippi, flying two-seat training single-engine PT-23 Fairchilds, with his first flight on Sep 4, 1943.
 Richard reported to Basic Flying School at Greenville Army Airfield, Mississippi. His first flight was on November 9th, 1943, training in the BTa-13 Valiant. He flew many missions, planning and filing flight plans for the first time. In the 90-day course, they learned acrobatics, instruments, and how to fly with other aircraft in groups. Richard was then selected for multi-engine flight training at George Field, Illinois, flying the Beechcraft AT-10 Wichita. On April 15th, Richard graduated and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He married his wife, Dorthy, on April 19th, whom he had met at Columbia University.
 They reported to Maxwell Field, Alabama, where he learned to fly the B-24 Liberator for a few months. After that, he reported to crew assignment and trained with his flight crew. In November, Richard and his crew sailed to England for 12 days, reporting to England for combat operations, but they were reassigned to a B-17 Flying Fortress squadron with the 92d Bomb Group.
 Being reassigned to a new aircraft type, Richard flew his first combat mission as a co-pilot on Jan 8th over France, assigned to hit a road junction. Richard still reads from his flight mission logs, cataloging his 30 combat missions, including targets in Berlin. He was assigned to the pilot seat and reunited with his crew for his 9th mission, targeting the rail yards at Fulda. On the sixth mission, the enemy fire took out two engines, forcing them to land the wounded B-17 north of Paris.
 Richard and his crew flew 30 combat missions, their last on April 25th, as the lead low element of the squadron. They made four runs through intense enemy fire and targeted an armament plant in Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. The plane was heavily damaged with holes all through it and the loss of the #3 engine, as well as wounding the radio operator. This was the last combat mission for the 92nd Bomb Group. Richards’s 30 combat missions totaled over 640 flying hours.
 Richard finished his time in Europe after VE day, flying for the green project. This project included installing benches in B-17s to transport soldiers to Casablanca to board ships bringing them home. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Where can I donate?

I have created a way to accept donations to grow the project, use the WWII Veterans Portrait Series
  Go Fund Me.

Where are you located?

I live in the San Diego area but have traveled to many locations to interview and photograph Veterans.


How Long is an Appointment?

Appointments usually last 1 hour. But please free up time for Mickey to set up lights and cameras, hold the interview, and take some photographs for the project.

Do you accept reservations?

Yes is the simple answer to the question.  Each appointment is set up as an individual session. Group sessions have been set up when I visited a senior living facility or many of the California Veterans Homes.

Copyright © 2024 Mickey Strand – Veterans Series
Frank Frazier was born on Nov 17, 1929, and grew up on a farm in Texas before moving to San Antonio after his father's passing. After graduating from Central Catholic High in 1947, Frank attended Texas A and M Corps of Cadets School, graduating with an Aeronautical Engineering degree. Frank was commissioned as a 2nd Lt after four years of ROTC at Texas A and M. Frank selected his path early in life. When working in the fields at seven, a barnstormer buzzed the farm and lit his passion for flight. He received his pilot's license at 16, in a Piper J3 Cub during his senior year of High school when lessons and flight time at Stinson field were only $8 an hour. He mowed lawns, worked summers in the oil fields, paid for flight time, and then went through college, graduating debt-free. Second Lt. Frazier reported to Air Force Primary flight training at Malden Army Airfield, Missouri, flying the North American T-6 Texans. He then reported for six months to Williams Air Force Base, Phoenix, AZ, for advanced flight training in Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star subsonic jet trainers. He finalized his training in the North American F-86 Sabre Jet at Nellis Air Force Base Las Vegas. This was the jet he would be flying for combat operations in Korea. In Feb 1953, Frank reported to Korea, flying with the 336 Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing out of K-14 Kimpo (Gimpo) Korea. He patrolled “MIG Ally,” protecting Fifth AF bomber operations from MIG-15 attacks. In early June, he got his first kill against a MIG-15, and on the 19th, he shared his 2nd kill. Frank flew 63 missions during his deployment and returned home after the end of combat operations. Frank returned to Edwards AFB to work as a Flight Test Engineer for four years. During this time, Capt Frazier was reassigned to Seattle as a test pilot for the Boeing B-52 acceptance test flights and flew the third airframe built in 1954-5. He followed that with four years at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, using his Aeronautical Engineering degree to test equipment and new aircraft. With all this work as an engineer, Frank decided he wanted to fly these new jets and was assigned to the Test Pilot School at Edwards in 1957. 1st Lt Frazier graduated as a USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot on 3 Jan 1958. Frank participated in the original Mercury Project in 1958. He went through all of the tests and evaluations with the 32 members’ perspective astronauts and found out years later that he was the 10th man on the list of the seven selected astronauts. In 1959 Frank was testing a B-47 Stratojet and set the world record at the time flying for 80 hours and 36 min. Maj Frasier served in 67-68 in Vietnam, flying 115 missions, with the 497th Tactical Fighter squadron, the Night Owls, in F-4 phantoms performing low-level night ground support missions. Returning to Edwards AFB after Vietnam, Lt Col Fraser served as the Deputy Commandant Aerospace Research School, where he joined the M2 club, having traveled twice the speed of sound or Mach 2, on 6 Sep 63 in a Convair F-106 Delta Dart. Frank retired in March of 1972 after packing all that excitement into 20 years, nine months, and 12 days of active duty. Frank continued flying for over 12 years in many aircraft until retiring from the flight with over 30 thousand hours of flying time. Frank received the distinguished flying cross with three oak leaf clusters.
Frank Frazier - Mickey Strand - Veterans Series
Frank Frazier was born on Nov 17, 1929, and grew up on a farm in Texas before moving to San Antonio after his father's passing. After graduating from Central Catholic High in 1947, Frank attended Texas A and M Corps of Cadets School, graduating with an Aeronautical Engineering degree. Frank was commissioned as a 2nd Lt after four years of ROTC at Texas A and M. Frank selected his path early in life. When working in the fields at seven, a barnstormer buzzed the farm and lit his passion for flight. He received his pilot's license at 16, in a Piper J3 Cub during his senior year of High school when lessons and flight time at Stinson field were only $8 an hour. He mowed lawns, worked summers in the oil fields, paid for flight time, and then went through college, graduating debt-free. Second Lt. Frazier reported to Air Force Primary flight training at Malden Army Airfield, Missouri, flying the North American T-6 Texans. He then reported for six months to Williams Air Force Base, Phoenix, AZ, for advanced flight training in Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star subsonic jet trainers. He finalized his training in the North American F-86 Sabre Jet at Nellis Air Force Base Las Vegas. This was the jet he would be flying for combat operations in Korea. In Feb 1953, Frank reported to Korea, flying with the 336 Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing out of K-14 Kimpo (Gimpo) Korea. He patrolled “MIG Ally,” protecting Fifth AF bomber operations from MIG-15 attacks. In early June, he got his first kill against a MIG-15, and on the 19th, he shared his 2nd kill. Frank flew 63 missions during his deployment and returned home after the end of combat operations. Frank returned to Edwards AFB to work as a Flight Test Engineer for four years. During this time, Capt Frazier was reassigned to Seattle as a test pilot for the Boeing B-52 acceptance test flights and flew the third airframe built in 1954-5. He followed that with four years at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, using his Aeronautical Engineering degree to test equipment and new aircraft. With all this work as an engineer, Frank decided he wanted to fly these new jets and was assigned to the Test Pilot School at Edwards in 1957. 1st Lt Frazier graduated as a USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot on 3 Jan 1958. Frank participated in the original Mercury Project in 1958. He went through all of the tests and evaluations with the 32 members’ perspective astronauts and found out years later that he was the 10th man on the list of the seven selected astronauts. In 1959 Frank was testing a B-47 Stratojet and set the world record at the time flying for 80 hours and 36 min. Maj Frasier served in 67-68 in Vietnam, flying 115 missions, with the 497th Tactical Fighter squadron, the Night Owls, in F-4 phantoms performing low-level night ground support missions. Returning to Edwards AFB after Vietnam, Lt Col Fraser served as the Deputy Commandant Aerospace Research School, where he joined the M2 club, having traveled twice the speed of sound or Mach 2, on 6 Sep 63 in a Convair F-106 Delta Dart. Frank retired in March of 1972 after packing all that excitement into 20 years, nine months, and 12 days of active duty. Frank continued flying for over 12 years in many aircraft until retiring from the flight with over 30 thousand hours of flying time. Frank received the distinguished flying cross with three oak leaf clusters.