Hero with a Camera

Arthur J. Kiely, Jr. was born in Hartford, Connecticut on March 1, 1918. As a young man, Kiely developed what would become a lifelong interest in photography. He began his career with the camera by doing freelance work for the Hartford Courant while working a job at the Colt Arms Company. The Courant hired him full time shortly before the outbreak of World War II.

In 1943, Kiely enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.  To his surprise, following basic training, he received the appointment he had requested to attend the Combat Photographer’s School in Quantico, Virginia. After six weeks’ training with cameras of all kinds, he became an official Marine Corps Combat Photographer. In Hawaii, some of his work was seen by General Holland M. Smith, better known by his nickname, “Howlin’ Mad,” a visionary who spearheaded reforms in amphibious assault tactics and strategy. Smith was so impressed with Kiely’s work that he had him “requisitioned,” and made his staff photographer.

For the rest of the war, Kiely was Smith’s shadow, documenting the general in his capacity as commander of the Marine Corps forces assigned to take the islands of Saipan, Tinian, Guam, and Iwo Jima. Being assigned to a commanding general’s staff meant Kiely could have passed the war in the relative safety of offshore command ships and rear echelon bases. Instead, he volunteered to photograph combat at the front on several occasions, sharing the risks of the front-line Marine. Kiely’s front line service won him a Bronze Star for heroism on Saipan, where he used grenades to knock out a Japanese sniper who was pinning down a force of Marines. He also volunteered for front line duty on Iwo Jima, a battle that took the lives of several of his fellow photographers.

After the war, Kiely returned to his job at the Courant, where he met his wife, Virginia. He went on to several jobs with industrial companies such as Niles-Bement-Pond and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, always with his camera in his hands. After his retirement in the 1980s, he worked as the staff photographer at the Connecticut Historical Society. Shortly after his death in 2005, selections from his wartime photograph albums were put on display at CHS. These albums remain available for viewing in the CHS research center, a vivid and poignant record of one of the great events in human history as documented by a young man from Connecticut.