User talk:DonnPulley

If you have a close connection to some of the people, places or things you have written about, you may have a conflict of interest. In keeping with Wikipedia's neutral point of view policy, edits where there is a conflict of interest, or where such a conflict might reasonably be inferred from the tone of the edit and the proximity of the editor to the subject, are strongly discouraged. If you have a conflict of interest, you should avoid or exercise great caution when:
 * 1) editing articles related to you, your organization, or its competitors, as well as projects and products they are involved with,
 * 2) participating in deletion discussions about articles related to your organization or its competitors,
 * 3) linking to the Wikipedia article or website of your organization in other articles (see Spam);
 * and you must always:
 * 1) avoid breaching relevant policies and guidelines, especially neutral point of view, verifiability, and autobiography.

For information on how to contribute to Wikipedia when you have conflict of interest, please see Business' FAQ. For more details about what constitutes a conflict of interest, please see Conflict of Interest. TheMindsEye (talk) 20:51, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Gerald P. Pulley
A proposed deletion template has been added to the article Gerald P. Pulley, suggesting that it be deleted according to the proposed deletion process. All contributions are appreciated, but this article may not satisfy Wikipedia's criteria for inclusion, and the deletion notice should explain why (see also "What Wikipedia is not" and Wikipedia's deletion policy). You may prevent the proposed deletion by removing the  notice, but please explain why you disagree with the proposed deletion in your edit summary or on its talk page. Also, please consider improving the article to address the issues raised. Even though removing the deletion notice will prevent deletion through the proposed deletion process, the article may still be deleted if it matches any of the speedy deletion criteria or it can be sent to Articles for Deletion, where it may be deleted if consensus to delete is reached. If you agree with the deletion of the article, and you are the only person who has made substantial edits to the page, please add db-author to the top of Gerald P. Pulley. Mbisanz (talk) 00:22, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Welcome to Wikipedia. It might not have been your intention, but your recent edit removed content from. When removing text, please specify a reason in the edit summary and discuss edits that are likely to be controversial on the article's talk page. If this was a mistake, don't worry; the text has been restored, as you can see from the page history. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia, and if you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. TheMindsEye (talk) 18:22, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

AfD nomination of Gerald P. Pulley
An article that you have been involved in editing, Gerald P. Pulley, has been listed for deletion. If you are interested in the deletion discussion, please participate by adding your comments at Articles for deletion/. Thank you. Mbisanz (talk) 16:29, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

In response to your entry on the Gerald P. Pulley talkpage
Hi there, Mr. Pulley. I've read your thoughts that you posted on the talkpage of the article about your father, and have to say first off that it sounds like he has led a fascinating life! He has certainly amassed a long list of memorable experiences and has served our (and I mean our - I'm in the U.S.) country nobly. I can tell you are extremely proud of his accomplishments, as you certainly should be. You've probably noticed that I initially held the opinion to "keep" the article based on the information and my own websearching, but have now changed to "delete" the article. If I may, I'd like to explain why I don't think Wikipedia is the appropriate place to memorialize your father.

1. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia of people, places, events that are not only notable, but verifiably notable.   What that means is that the subjects of articles are required to have been written about somewhere else. Not only that, the other sources that have written about the person/place/thing must be reliable, meaning not biased towards a specific viewpoint.

2. Whenever an article is discovered not to meet this criteria, it is either deleted outright (called speedy deletion, or it is brought to the attention of other editors through the deletion process.  Without reliable sources, an article is usually deleted.  Before I, (or any editor), chooses "delete", they are required to do a good faith search for the sources themselves.  No editor has been able to find any good sources.  the source that I initially thought was reliable (the Truman library oral history interview) is, while interesting, not quite Wikipedia standards, as was pointed out to me, because your dad's thoughts were mostly about Truman.

3. Whenever anything is posted to Wikipedia, it is released to the public domain for anyone to change. That means, at any time, any editor, be they well intentioned, ill-intentioned, or otherwise, can change anything you've written at any time, without permission and without logging in to the site. I would find it very sad if at Christmas, you were to show your dad his article, that you and your family create as a tribute, only to find it replaced (seconds before you opened it) with "Gerald P. Pulley is stupid. Navy sucks." While that would be changed immediately by the Vandal Patrol, you can see where that might be a bit stressful for your family.

4. Wikpedia is not a memorial site. Whether a "tribute" is made for the deceased or the living, this is not the appropriate place. There are other websites that are perfect for that though, and just as free as Wikipedia. Perhaps some of your computer-savvy family knows of some? I personally am not that familiar with many so I hesitate to recommend any specifically. What I did do, though is go to Ask.dom and type "Where can I post a memorial online for free?". It may lead you somewhere more appropriate, and only logged in people would be able to contribute.

Best of luck to you, Mr. Pulley, hope you have a nice Christmas. I hope you don't take any of this deltion stuff too personally, it isn't meant to offend or in any way lessen your dad's accomplishments. Great day to you,  Keeper   |   76  20:28, 13 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I think I need to add something from a slightly different point of view: what is needed is additional references, not just newspaper articles. He is probably mentioned in books about Roosevelt, and in book sand magazine articles about the Navy and about war photography. Possibly he kept a scrapbook, or you can ask for help from a librarian. The article can and could be much more than a memorial. I wish I had the time to help more specifically. Frankly, I am writing because I think the comment above is a little on the condescending side, especially the 3rd and 4th paragraphs. Don;t worry about possible vandalism, which is very unlikely for most articles. Don;t worry about computer literacy, you are handling the formatting pretty well for a beginner at it. Don't be afraid to write here, but try to get some good documentation. I know there isn't much time, but that's the way this place works. If you later do find some, ask me about how to get the article restored. In the meantime, make a copy of it for your own use. DGG (talk) 03:05, 14 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I'll add here that my intention was absolutely not meant to be condescending in anyway, I hope you didn't take it that way. If you did, my sincere apologies.  It's tough to "talk" with a keyboard.  DGG has given you good advice - I wasn't trying to sound as ominous about vandalism as I apparently did, just trying to inform you about "the way this place works" (to use his words).  If I was able to find more sources (I did try with my own limited resources) I certainly would have added them myself.  Thanks,  Keeper   |   76  16:47, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you and I did not take the comment as being condescending in any way. There are more references and I am trying to get the information as quickly as possible. He is mentioned numerous times in a book called "Eyes of the Fleet" I believe but am trying to get even more info for you all. He does have a lot of material including other newspaper articles such as when he received a commendation from President Kennedy after the Cuban Missile Crisis but I'm just trying to gather it all up. All I'm asking for is the time to gather the precise research information that you all need and require. I appreciate your patience and I do understand that this is not a website to honor family and friends or people like you and me for ordinary lives. He is very notable despite the fact that he is my father. Anyway, I appreciate your help and am trying to get more in the upcoming week. Never having had done this before, I just wasn't knowledgable in what was involved but I'm learning. Thanks.

DonnPulley (talk) 17:58, 14 December 2007 (UTC)


 * I've stopped the deletion process for the time being to give you a chance to add sources. Also, I've cleaned the article up a bit and linked the picture I see you uploaded.  If you need help adding sources, let me know, I'll even hepl format it if you can upload the details to this page.  Thanks Mbisanz (talk) 22:37, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for all of your help. I have a sister who works for Rollins College and who has a friend who is familiar with Wikipedia and we are trying to get their assistance as well. I had uploaded a picture but couldn't figure out where it went. I am also going to contact several of my father's close friends (one of which was the White House photographer under President Nixon) to also help out with this project. I promise you that we will eventually show what is needed to reflect my father's notoriety in his field. Thanks again for all of your help!!!

DonnPulley (talk) 14:41, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

Mbisanz or Keeper, did the reference book that I mentioned help resolve this matter?

DonnPulley (talk) 17:24, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I just found out that my other sister has a copy of the "Eyes of the Fleet, A History of Naval Photography" by Art Giberson published in 2000 where my father is mentioned numerous times including the acknowledgment page. I'll continue to seek out more but at least that is a published work.

DonnPulley (talk) 15:05, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

I added the reference of "The Eyes of the Fleet, a History of Naval Photography" by Art Giberson published in 2000 by Wind Canyon Books, Inc.. Does this entry help to resolve the problem? DonnPulley (talk) 15:42, 18 December 2007 (UTC)


 * We're getting close. Now that you have the sources, we'll need to incorporate them into the article.  So here are the two main templates for a source, if you can fill in the "answers" to these questions, I can then add them to the article.  You don't need to fill them all in, since obviously there would be no URL for a book, just fill in what you have.  Feel free to copy and paste for multiple books.

Citation for a book | last = Pulley | first = Gerald P. | authorlink = Art Giberson | coauthors = none | title = "Eyes of the Fleet, A History of Naval Photography" | publisher = Wind Canyon Books, Inc. | date = 2000 | location = | pages = acknowledgments; pages 57 (W.W.II) page 73 (Admiral Byrd's Antartic Expedition) page 105-107 (former White House Navy Photographer and discussion of Pulley's involvement in the Cuban Missile Crisis developing the film analyzing the latest Cuban overflight reconnaissance flights, under the code name Blue Moon) page 112 (Joint Chief Photographer's Roundup 1984) | url = | doi = | id = | isbn =

Citation for a newspaper | last = | first = | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = | newspaper = | pages = | year = | date = | url =

Once you've added the info, then let me know which statements in the article they'll back up. To make it easier, you can just list etc
 * "book 1, page x to y apply to Admiral Byrd"
 * "newspaper 2 applies to Chief Historian"

Don't worry about it being repetitious, some of the best articles may cite a single source multiple times, especially if it is a book on the topic. Thanks. Mbisanz (talk) 19:30, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I did the best I could. There are also photos in the book of my dad but did not include those pages. Thanks for your help in all of this!!! DonnPulley (talk) 23:07, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Updated
So I've fixed the article up enough where its no longer up for deletion. If you find anymore news sources, etc after the holiday's just drop them here, and I'll drop them in. Thanks again. It might be interesting to ahve a page about the Naval Photographer's group he founded. Mbisanz (talk) 06:17, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Thank you so much for all of the help and assistance that you have provided me in this article. After the holidays, I will get out all of my material again and add to the list. Should I include letters from key personnel in the White House that mention various items or commendations? I will also pull out more information about the organization that you mentioned. After the holidays, my father and his friends will also be able to help me out in more material, I'm sure. But thank you very much for everything that you do to help those of us who are not very gifted when it comes to this type of information material. Merry Christmas and happy holidays! DonnPulley (talk) 15:54, 21 December 2007 (UTC)

Image copyright problem with Image:Tsingtao, China 1949.jpg
Thank you for uploading Image:Tsingtao, China 1949.jpg. However, it currently is missing information on its copyright status. Wikipedia takes copyright very seriously. It may be deleted soon, unless we can determine the license and the source of the image. If you know this information, then you can add a copyright tag to the image description page.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them at the media copyright questions page. Thanks again for your cooperation. NOTE: once you correct this, please remove the tag from the image's page. STBotI (talk) 18:20, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

This photo was taken by a friend of my father's while in China and my father has passed the photo down to me. It is part of my family's personal collection and I have full rights to its use. DonnPulley (talk) 18:23, 26 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I took the liberty of exchanging the "family photo" for this superb photo of Mr. Pulley as a photographer. What a great image! I hope the copyright problem here works out because it is a wonderful photo.  I am useless when it comes to images though, please don't ask for help from me in regards to copyright issues. :-)  The help page that links above should help you "release" this photo into public domain.  Keep in mind though, releasing it into "public domain" (i.e. Wikipedia) means anyone can copy it, download it, use it, link it, or whatever,  for basically any reason at any time.  If you want this picture to remain in your private family collection, state as much so that it gets removed from Wikipedia.  But I hope you have the ability to release it, because it really enhances the Gerald Pulley page.    Keeper   |   76  20:47, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for your help. Now I need to figure out how to contact STBotl to get this photo released into the public domain. I guess I messed up when I uploaded the photo. It's my father's photo and this is the one he would like to be used in the article. DonnPulley (talk) 21:58, 26 December 2007 (UTC)
 * I saw your note on Images and media for deletion/2007 December 26. If you are the copyright holder and want to release the photo into the public domain, copy and paste the following tag into the image file:   .  I've never used it but it seemed like the best tag on Image copyright tags/Public domain.  Please don't worry--one way or another, this is a solvable problem, Mr. Pulley.  Let us know here on your talk page how it goes.  Darkspots (talk) 22:32, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Okay, I did as instructed but now the photo is completely gone and there is writing pertaining to public domain use???? Not very good at this stuff so I appreciate any help you give me. thanks. DonnPulley (talk) 22:49, 26 December 2007 (UTC)
 * No problem, I saw what you did and reverted the edit to the article. What you need to do (and you have to do it yourself) is edit Image:Tsingtao, China 1949.jpg itself, not Gerald P. Pulley.  Click on that link, edit the page, and replace the di no-license tag with the  tag. Darkspots (talk) 23:04, 26 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, Darkspots, I think I corrected it as you instructed. You guys are a real lifesaver for those of us who are not very computer literate. This has been a very interested experience for me and I appreciate everything you all have done!!! Thanks again. DonnPulley (talk) 20:39, 27 December 2007 (UTC)

on Pulley
I find your article on your father to be fascinating and I wish there were more sons who would spend the time to make sure their fathers are cast in the best light so people can see their outstanding contributions to our history. Kudos to you! OneMarkus (talk) 15:27, 31 December 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, OneMarcus, he really has led a very fascinating life and it has been an honor to be his son. I appreciate your comments. I would never have been able to complete this article had it not been for the wonderful editor's and their help. They were a Godsend!!! My father was unbelievably proud to be an entry (after we explained what Wikipedia was and how difficult it was to get his entry in!). DonnPulley (talk) 16:14, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Image award
I'd like to nominate your father's picture Image:Tsingtao, China 1949.jpg to be featured ont he main page as an exaple of our best images. Could you provide some detail on why he was in China, etc?  MBisanz  talk 08:13, 10 February 2008 (UTC)