For preserving photos, lots of great info on this American Museum of Photography page.

As far as digitizing them is concerned, you can use any good flatbed scanner. If the scanner isn't large enough, software can stitch together two smaller scans to make a complete image.

And when you do scan them, make sure you post them to: r/historyporn

Industry standard is currently 600dpi TIFF for digitization. My library actually just officially made the switch to jpeg2000 for preservation standard image format, but most places are still on TIFF, including Library of Congress. Any loss-less format with an open code is theoretically fine though.

For preserving the originals, if you plan to handle these a lot I would recommend getting good quality sleeves, like from an archival vendor like Hollinger, Gaylord, etc. Do not buy stuff from Office Depot, even if it says "archival," that's not a controlled term, you can call anything you like "archival" and it's perfectly legal. If you don't plan to use these much you could save some money and do acid free buffered folders, available from the same vendors.

My first piece of advice (and I'm biased here, I'll come right out and say it!) is to donate them to an Air Force or similar museum. The best one with the largest archive is the National Museum of the United States Air Force. They can take better care of them than just about anybody if you're really concerned about their long-term preservation. I've worked with a few of the people there and they know what they're doing.

As to taking care of them yourself, here are a couple of Sources. These assume they are printed on material typical of 1940s photographs, and aren't slides or negatives.

-If you can, store them in sleeves made of pure polyethylene, polypropylene or polyester. If you can, store them in their own sleeves each, but this is probably cost prohibative for most people. -Keep them somewhere dark. If you can get your hands on an archive-quality box (that is, acid free, made without dyes. If you'd like I can post the actual standards, but they're incomprehensible to most people!). An album is fine, but i'd go for one made of an intert plastic or other archive-quality material, as most ones you'll find in retail shops are made with acidic cardboard and dyes. Light is going to be your biggest enemy. When you are scanning, do each photograph only once if possible. I've seen people fry faded photos scanning or copying them repeatedly! Two or three times shoudln't hurt anything though, just keep in mind that older scanners can produce heat which may warp images. -Keep them somewhere with stable humidity and temperature (I aim for about 40% in my storage area, but you don't have to be THAT specific for private collecitons as long as its stable). That means keeping them out of the basement and attic, and away from radiators, windows, and exterior walls. If you have a closet in your room that's not touching an exterior wall this is probably sufficient for your needs. -General stuff. Some people will reccomend gloves, and I'd agree if you plan on handling them heavily. Otherwise just make sure you wash your hands before handling and don't touch the photo surface and you should be ok. -Cleaning: as long as they're in sleeves (even album sleeves) they should never really require cleaning. If they are especially dusty, pick up a soft-bristled, animal hair paintbrush from a local art shop and lightly dust them, moving in straight, gentle lines.

Scanning:

-Firstly, make sure you're using a no-heat scanner. Older scanners (more than a few years old) can heat up after repeated usage, so just keep an eye out for this. -Format: Generally, most places use TIFF but i've worked places where JPEG was used. It's really up to you, as if you ever donate the pieces they'll be rescanned to fulfill a huge list of requirements most archives have as far as metadata and the like goes. -DPI and Resolution: The higher the better! The usual standard is, if possible, that the photo doesn't look blurry or pixelated when blown up and printed in high-quality using an 8x11 piece of paper. Obviously, this can change drastically depending on the photo's original quality and size.

For the National Archives guide on photograph handling, it can be found here. It's pretty dense (I've never even read all of it) but it will cover any question you have, even including stuff like monitor settings for "properly" viewing photographs.

As far as photo identification goes, if you have any quesitons please don't hestitate to ask. I'm a military history specialist who works for a national veterans group that has its own museum and archives, so I do a lot of stuff like this on a day-to-day basis, including photo identificaiton. If I don't know, I can always get you into contact with several very good official USAF historians as well!

Scanning the edges may help identify film stock and camera, so you should probably do small scans and stitch them together.

If your scanner isn't big enough, and you can't afford a bigger one, you may go for a bit more old school and invest (buy or build) in a photographic copy stand. It's a camera facing straight down with two lights at 45 degrees to the surface. The photo is typically placed under glass to make it flat and you snap a picture at high resolution.

Top quality scanners will do a better job, but if you already have a good camera, this would work. It was the process used for a long time before digital came around.

Before you start scanning them, talk to a professional. Any work you do will likely be repeated by whomever the originals get donated to. If you want copies, make it a condition for the donation.

Look for your grandfather's squadron, chances are there is some sort of organization associated with it, and they may have suggestions for academics to contact.