Norman T. Hatch

Norman T. Hatch had a long career as a photographer, administrator, business owner and consultant in suburban Washington, D. C.; during World War II, however, he served in the United States Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater as a combat photographer. Staff Sergeant Hatch documented the battles of Guadacanal, Tarawa, and Iwo Jima. His work formed the basis for the 1944 short "With The Marines at Tarawa" which earned the 1944 Academy Award for Most Outstanding Documentary Short--the prize was awarded to the U.S. Marine Corps. Hatch, promoted to Chief Photographic Officer of the Fifth Marine Division with the rank of Warrant Officer, filmed the aftermath of the atomic bomb blast on the city of Nagasaki. After the war, Hatch remained in government service, ultimately serving as Chief, Audiovisual Division, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Public Affairs [OASD (PA)]; he was, for fifteen years,the senior audio visual advisor to the Secretary of Defense, as well as a consultant to the White House Press Office during four administrations. Hatch also ran a photography business that produced editorial/commercial photography for foreign publishers.