Andree Chappaz - Home Page Slide Show - 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 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. Today we continue to capture the Ledgends of service of great American heros. 

Featured Veteran

Frederick V. Knight Jr.

Frederick V. Knight Jr.
United States Coast Guard
Radio Technician Petty Officer Second Class
WorldWar II

Frederick V. Knight Jr. was born on March 5, 1921, in Medford, Massachusetts, to Frederick V. Knight Sr. and Norah Jean Levers. He graduated from Mechanics Arts High School in Boston in June 1938. After high school, he worked for two years at New England Laundries in Somerville as a mechanic and extractor operator. He briefly worked for Manning, Maxwell, and Moore before securing a position at Watertown Arsenal, where he assembled 90mm anti-aircraft guns. He married his wife, Dorothy, on March 29, 1942. 
In October 1942, Fred enlisted in the Coast Guard after seeing an excessively long line at the Navy recruiting office. He completed eight weeks of boot camp at Manhattan Beach, New York. Because of his experience building radios, he was sent to radio school for 26 weeks in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the Virginia Hotel, which had been converted into a housing and training facility. 
His first active-duty station was at Fire Island, parallel to Long Island, where he worked at a direction-finder station. He spent about three months there searching radio frequencies to locate enemy submarines, using a large wheel to turn the antenna.
Knight was next assigned to the 165-foot Thetis-class patrol boat, Pandora (WPC-113), based out of Staten Island. He served as a Radio Man Third Class (RM3), performing convoy duty between New York and Key West. During this time, he experienced severe seasickness until a nearby escort vessel was torpedoed, which triggered "battle quarters" and snapped him into focus. He spent about six months on this assignment, copying "Fox" schedules and monitoring battle frequencies.
After the Coast Guard identified the need for technicians, RM3 Knight was reclassified as a radio technician and assigned to Federal Electric in Newark, New Jersey. He spent six months living like a civilian, receiving per diem and residing in town while inspecting military radio equipment from various companies in the New York and New Jersey area for use by the Department of War.
He then attended Loran (Long Range Navigation Radio) school in Groton, Connecticut. After graduation, he was deployed to the Pacific, traveling through Hawaii and Saipan to the small island of Miyagi, off the coast of Okinawa. While the fight for the Okinawa Main Island was still ongoing, his unit built and operated a Loran station using high-power transmitters and Quonset huts shielded with copper screening. Petty Officer Knight was promoted to Second Class. RM2 Knight operated the station until earning enough ASR service points to leave Japan in December 1945. He traveled by ship to Portland, Oregon, and took a train across the country, celebrating Christmas aboard in Billings, Montana. He was honorably discharged in Boston in January 1946.
Fred continued working in the electronics and engineering industry and used his GI Bill to attend Northeastern University, earning degrees in engineering and management. While in school, he worked at the MIT Radiation Lab for 5 years as an electronics technician. He then joined a small private company, Ultra Mechanism/Ultrasonic, working on radar and autopilot systems for the Marines. Fred moved to San Diego to work for General Dynamics as an engineer for 27 years, retiring in August 1982. Fred and Dorothy had 2 children, 5 grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren, and 17 great-great-grandchildren.

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
Please email

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 and the California Veterans Homes.

Copyright © 2025 Mickey Strand – Veterans Series
US Army T4 World War 2 Andree Chappaz was born in the United States on September 14, 1925. His early years saw his family relocate to France when he was four years old. Andree’s formative years were spent in France, where his father found employment at an aircraft factory near Paris. With the growing turmoil in France and the looming threat of war, the Chappaz family decided to return to the United States on Thanksgiving Day, 1937. After graduating high school, Andree pursued his passion for the arts by attending the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. His life took an unexpected turn when a military captain arrived to recruit personnel for a headquarters unit, specifically needing graphic artists. Andree eagerly awaited his 18th birthday, which arrived in September 1943, marking his induction into the U.S. Army. However, Andree was not assigned to the graphics unit as initially expected; instead, he found himself with the Engineers at March Field. Subsequently, he was transferred to the 1885th Aviation Engineering Battalion. This unit’s primary responsibility was to construct airfields for heavy bombers as the war front advanced, ensuring these bombers remained within range as the front lines shifted from island to island. Andree’s journey took him to Bushnell Army Airfield in Florida, where he underwent rigorous training in tropical conditions. The unit’s destination was Guam, where they were tasked with building three crucial airfields: Hammond Air Field, Anderson Field, and an outlaying landing field. Hammond Air Field, in particular, became the headquarters for the XXI Bomber Command, operating the new B-29 Superfortress, which brought the Japanese homeland into striking distance. Remarkably, this airfield was constructed in just 54 days, with Andree and his fellow soldiers working day and night. It is important to note that even after the Marines secured Guam, many Japanese soldiers remained on the island, occasionally interfering with construction projects. Andree and his fellow soldiers participated in patrols to maintain the security of the airfields. One of their initial tasks was to clear the airfield construction zone of mines and unexploded ordnance left behind by both sides during the conflict. During one such patrol, Andree discovered a mine rigged to a bomb on the beach, a situation that had to be carefully handled. Like many others in his unit, Andree had been issued the wool uniform (commonly referred to as “woolies”), which indicated preparations for the impending landings on the Japanese mainland. It was during this time that the news broke of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing an end to the war in the Pacific, a relief to all soldiers who had anxiously wondered when the conflict would conclude. Before the war’s conclusion, Andree was promoted to Technician in Fifth Grade. In February 1946, Andree was honorably demobilized and returned to the San Francisco area. After his military service, he resumed his education at the Art Institute, although after a year, he decided to leave school. Subsequently, he worked in the silk-screening industry for the Army at the Presidio for several years.
Veteran,NIK,WW2
Andree Chappaz - Home Page Slide Show - Mickey Strand - Veterans Series
US Army T4 World War 2 Andree Chappaz was born in the United States on September 14, 1925. His early years saw his family relocate to France when he was four years old. Andree’s formative years were spent in France, where his father found employment at an aircraft factory near Paris. With the growing turmoil in France and the looming threat of war, the Chappaz family decided to return to the United States on Thanksgiving Day, 1937. After graduating high school, Andree pursued his passion for the arts by attending the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. His life took an unexpected turn when a military captain arrived to recruit personnel for a headquarters unit, specifically needing graphic artists. Andree eagerly awaited his 18th birthday, which arrived in September 1943, marking his induction into the U.S. Army. However, Andree was not assigned to the graphics unit as initially expected; instead, he found himself with the Engineers at March Field. Subsequently, he was transferred to the 1885th Aviation Engineering Battalion. This unit’s primary responsibility was to construct airfields for heavy bombers as the war front advanced, ensuring these bombers remained within range as the front lines shifted from island to island. Andree’s journey took him to Bushnell Army Airfield in Florida, where he underwent rigorous training in tropical conditions. The unit’s destination was Guam, where they were tasked with building three crucial airfields: Hammond Air Field, Anderson Field, and an outlaying landing field. Hammond Air Field, in particular, became the headquarters for the XXI Bomber Command, operating the new B-29 Superfortress, which brought the Japanese homeland into striking distance. Remarkably, this airfield was constructed in just 54 days, with Andree and his fellow soldiers working day and night. It is important to note that even after the Marines secured Guam, many Japanese soldiers remained on the island, occasionally interfering with construction projects. Andree and his fellow soldiers participated in patrols to maintain the security of the airfields. One of their initial tasks was to clear the airfield construction zone of mines and unexploded ordnance left behind by both sides during the conflict. During one such patrol, Andree discovered a mine rigged to a bomb on the beach, a situation that had to be carefully handled. Like many others in his unit, Andree had been issued the wool uniform (commonly referred to as “woolies”), which indicated preparations for the impending landings on the Japanese mainland. It was during this time that the news broke of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bringing an end to the war in the Pacific, a relief to all soldiers who had anxiously wondered when the conflict would conclude. Before the war’s conclusion, Andree was promoted to Technician in Fifth Grade. In February 1946, Andree was honorably demobilized and returned to the San Francisco area. After his military service, he resumed his education at the Art Institute, although after a year, he decided to leave school. Subsequently, he worked in the silk-screening industry for the Army at the Presidio for several years.