Children and a Mock Execution

This is a shocking photo.

Look at this picture of two children playing with fake guns. Kids emulate what they see and this was taken at the height of World War II in 1943. The cadets in the background are performing drills at Woodrow Wilson High School.

Kids playing with guns at Woodrow Wilson High School (1943)

This photo eerily reminds me of the 1968 execution photo from Vietnam. Random side note … the trigger man in that photo (Nguyen Ngoc Loan) fled to Burke, Virginia after the war and lived out the rest of his days there.

Thanks again to Shorpy.

Related articles

• Video: Wilson, Harding and a Nation Pay Respect to the Unknown Soldier (1921) (ghostsofdc.org)
• Sheep Grazing at the White House (ghostsofdc.org)