The Veterans History Project (VHP) of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center is primarily an oral history program that collects and preserves the firsthand interviews of America's wartime veterans. VHP relies on volunteers, both individuals and organizations, throughout the nation to contribute veterans’ stories to VHP. In addition to audio- and video-recorded interviews, VHP accepts memoirs and collections of original photographs, letters, diaries, maps and other historical documents from World War I through current conflicts. See more at What We Collect andAbout the Project.
How did the Veterans History Project start? The United States Congress created the Veterans History Project in 2000. The authorizing legislation (Public Law 106-380 [PDF, 197 KB]), sponsored by U.S. Representatives Ron Kind, Amo Houghton and Steny Hoyer and U.S. Senators Max Cleland and Chuck Hagel, received unanimous support and was signed into law by President William Jefferson Clinton on October 27, 2000.
https://www.va.gov/opa/vhp/default.cfm is the Joint VA and Library of Congress Veterans History Project web site. The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. VA and the Library of Congress Veterans History Project have a special message for all Americans this Veterans Day – Honor our Veterans. Record their histories! By recording the oral histories of our Veterans, we preserve the human face of American history for generations to come and honor those men and women who swore to protect and defend the United States. Each day as Veterans Day approaches, the VA home page will introduce you to veterans’ oral histories from the digital archive of the Library of Congress – one from each state and territory. Interested in a Veteran from your state? Just click on the map. Each day we will reveal five more states until Veterans Day. To find out more about the Veterans History Project and how you can submit your veteran’s oral history to the Library of Congress, go to www.loc.gov/vets. Do something special to honor Veterans on Veterans Day, record a Veteran’s history!
Barksdale, Jr., Thomas Walter -- Sergeant, Army Air Forces/Corps Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Miami, Florida; South Dakota; San Antonio, Texas; England; Austria
Baughman, Sr., Paul L. -- Technical Sergeant, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - France; Belgium; Germany; European Theater
Belton, Samuel Lee -- Sergeant, Sergeant, Marine Corps, Marine Corps Veteran World War II, 1939-1945, Korean War, 1950-1953 - Montford Point, North Carolina; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; China; Guam (Mariana Islands); Pacific Theater; Washington, DC; Korea
Bolds, Francis James -- Chief Petty Officer, Navy, Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945, Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - New Caledonia; Guam (Mariana Islands); Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands); France; Italy; Da Nang, Vietnam; Chu Lai, Vietnam
Cox, Stanley D. -- Fireman, Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Guam (Mariana Islands)
Finney, Edwin Mall -- Private First Class, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Pacific Theater
Harrington, Jr., Myron Charles -- Colonel, Marine Corps Veteran Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Vietnam; Beirut, Lebanon; Okinawa, Japan
Haynes, James E. -- Private First Class, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Germany; Philippines; Nancy, France; Paris, France
Lee, Lewis Marshall -- Chief Petty Officer, Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Norfolk, Virginia; Charleston, South Carolina
Liponi, Anthony -- Master Sergeant, Air Force Veteran Cold War - Guam (Mariana Islands); Japan; Vietnam
McGinnis, Sr., David Gene -- Petty Officer Third Class, Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Norfolk, Virginia; San Francisco, California; North Africa; European Theater; Northern Mariana Islands; Bougainville Island (Solomon Islands); Borneo; Lingayen (Philippines); Leyte (Philippines); Pacific Theater
Milligan, Jr., Herbert M. -- Sergeant, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Iwo Jima; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Camp Carson, Colorado; Pacific Theater
Moulton, Carlos R. -- Sergeant, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Belgium
Porter, William W. -- Commander, Air Force, Air Force, Air Force Veteran World War II, 1939-1945, Korean War, 1950-1953, Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Washington, D.C.; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Philippines; Korea; Vietnam
Quinton, Garland G. -- Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Aleutian Islands (Alaska)
Rockefeller, John Jay -- Marine Corps Veteran Korean War, 1950-1953 - Parris Island, South Carolina; California; Korea
Saunders, Percy L. -- Colonel, Marine Corps, Army, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945, Korean War, 1950-1953, Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Parris Island, South Carolina; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Philippines; Korea; Vietnam
Saunders, Sr., Percy Leo -- Lieutenant Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Army Air Forces/Corps, Air Force, Air Force Veteran World War II, 1939-1945, Korean War, 1950-1953, Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - California; Korea; Philippines; Vietnam
Schramm, Richard Augustus -- Sergeant, Army, Army Veteran Cold War, Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Vietnam; Missouri; Minnesota
Syfrett, Harold Walter -- Chief Electrician's Mate, Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Norfolk, Virginia; Washington, DC; Pacific Ocean
Tindal, Sullivan -- Corporal, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Normandy, France; Berlin, Germany
Watts, III, Claudius E. -- Lieutenant General, Air Force Veteran Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Craig Air Force Base, Alabama; Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina; Bien Hoa, Vietnam; Da Nang, Vietnam; Langley Air Force Base, Virginia; Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland; McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey; Norton Air Force Base, California; Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; Washington, DC
Wright, Dan -- Technician Four, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - New Guinea; Luzon (Philippines); Pacific Theater
Our Country was in a bind with Japan attacking us on the West Coast and Germany on the East, so it should come as no surprise that women were being trained to shoot machine guns as 95 year old Ruth Walzer testifies below (video missing)
Female Russian Soldier During World War II (circa 1940)
(Actually, the U. S. was training women to shoot machine guns at start of WW2. I interviewed fiesty 96 Y.O. Ruth who was upset, when after a year of training to shoot 40 and 60 mm. machine guns, she heard the generals decided not to use women in combat.)
Most of the 800,000 women who served in the Soviet Armed Forces during WWII were medical staff, but some — like this young woman who seems all too happy to be taking aim at some Nazis — served as gunners, pilots, and snipers. The next time someone tells you to shoot like a girl, show them this. Actually, the U. S. was training women to shoot machine guns at start of WW2. I interviewed fiesty 96 Y.O. Ruth who was upset, when after a year of training to shoot 40 and 60 mm. machine guns, she heard the generals decided not to use women in combat.
Ron AlexanderAnzio Dday in Italy WW2, quite a bloodbath and I did not know much about it until interviewing Capt. Sonny Morrison!
Shel KentGlad to hear you have recovered. Here's a site with details of how the military made a mess out of that activity. I like this site which supplies coverage you may not find at others but exactly for that reason you need your truth filters on while reading. I wonder is your review close to whats in this review. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Anzio
Ron AlexanderInterestingly, the British Division was Dunkirk survivors The Americans were vets. of Tunisia and Sicily. In both the doc. and movie, the jeep made it quickly unharmed to Rome, so if Gen. Lucas would have kept his men moving after easy virtually unopposed beach landing, they could have captured Rome. Instead after setting up beachhead, he sent 2 battalions of Rangers out to reconnoiter the situation. The Nazis had rebounded by then and ambushed the Rangers killing many of them and took many POWs who they used to dig in their positions. The Germans planned to make this another Dunkirk, but Naval artillary and B24 bombers kept them at bay.
The success of an amphibious landing at that location, in a basin consisting substantially of reclaimedmarshland and surrounded by mountains, depended on the element of surprise and the swiftness with which the invaders could build up strength and move inland relative to the reaction time and strength of the defenders. Any delay could result in the occupation of the mountains by the defenders and the consequent entrapment of the invaders. Lieutenant GeneralMark W. Clark, commander of the U.S. Fifth Army, understood that risk, but Clark did not pass on his appreciation of the situation to his subordinate,[citation needed] Lucas, who preferred to take time to entrench against an expected counterattack. The initial landing achieved complete surprise with no opposition and a jeep patrol even made it as far as the outskirts of Rome. However, Lucas, who had little confidence in the operation as planned, failed to capitalize on the element of surprise and delaying his advance until he judged his position was sufficiently consolidated and he had sufficient strength.
While Lucas consolidated, Field MarshalAlbert Kesselring, the German commander in the Italian theatre, moved every unit he could spare into a defensive ring around the beachhead. His artillery units had a clear view of every Allied position. The Germans also stopped the drainage pumps and flooded the reclaimed marsh with salt water, planning to entrap the Allies and destroy them by epidemic. For weeks a rain of shells fell on the beach, the marsh, the harbour, and on anything else observable from the hills, with little distinction between forward and rear positions.
After a month of heavy but inconclusive fighting, Lucas was relieved and sent home. His replacement was Major General Lucian K. Truscott, who had previously commanded the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division. The Allies broke out in May. But, instead of striking inland to cut lines of communication of the German Tenth Army's units fighting at Monte Cassino, Truscott, on Clark's orders, reluctantly turned his forces north-west towards Rome, which was captured on June 4, 1944. As a result, the forces of the German Tenth Army fighting at Cassino were able to withdraw and rejoin the rest of Kesselring's forces north of Rome, regroup, and make a fighting withdrawal to his next major prepared defensive position on the Gothic Line.
The Battle of Hue is the primary fighting in here. I interviewed a Marine Colonel, who as a Captain in Vietnam war lost over 230 of his 255 men in that bloody battle.
He did not mention the 272 boats sunk in 1941 a year before the declaration of war by Germany on US, and that the reason the merchant ships were so close to shore going South was because of the Gulf Stream strongly going North. Also, the first UBoat was sunk off Cape Lookout, Southern Outer Banks by lucky hit by drum rolled off stern of Coast Guard Boat. The Nazi Crew was rescued (despite the fact that survivors of the merchant ships were mowed down in their lifeboats or in their life vests) and brought ashore in Morehead City. Where they came back for reunions yearly for decades.
The Library of Congress >> American Folklife Center Veterans History Project (Library of Congress)
Barksdale, Jr., Thomas Walter -- Sergeant, Army Air Forces/Corps Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Miami, Florida; South Dakota; San Antonio, Texas; England; Austria. Sgt. Tom was a POW in Stalag 17, Hogan's Heroes, a true story. He was awarded a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars.
Sgt. Tom was the tall quiet leader in the Barracks.
Baughman, Sr., Paul L. -- Technical Sergeant, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - France; Belgium; Germany; European Theater. Sgt. Paul, a member of 101st Airborne was a parachuter into Normandy, wounded at St. Lo, Recovered in England and then joined the 29th Infantry guarding Patton's Tanks, wounded in Heurtgen Forest, He was awarded a Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
Sgt. Paul is the one with blackened face on right. One of the first parachuters into Normandy on Dday.
Bolds, Francis James -- Chief Petty Officer, Navy, Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945, Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - New Caledonia; Guam (Mariana Islands); Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands); France; Italy; Da Nang, Vietnam; Chu Lai, Vietnam. Chief Bolds was in WW2 as well as in the Brown Water Navy in Vietnam.
Chief Bolds both in WW2 and Vietnam receives his DVD
Cox, Stanley D. -- Fireman, Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Guam (Mariana Islands)
Okinawa, more sailors killed on ships sunk there than in any other battle in U. S. history
Donnelly, Jr., Raymond -- First Lieutenant, Army Veteran Cold War - Hawaii
Lt. Donnelly enjoyed his Army Service in Hawaii
Finney, Edwin Mall -- Private First Class, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Pacific Theater. PFC Finney was a medic on Okinawa and received a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. At present, he resides in Patriots Harbor at VA in Charleston, S. C. still suffering from hip wound from battle.
Harrington, Jr., Myron Charles -- Colonel, Marine Corps Veteran Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Vietnam; Beirut, Lebanon; Okinawa, Japan. At the Battle of Hue, Capt. (then) lost most of his Company.
The Battle of Huế (also called the Siege of Huế), was one of the bloodiest and longest battles of the Vietnam War. In February
Haynes, James E. -- Private First Class, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Fort Belvoir, Virginia; Germany; Philippines; Nancy, France; Paris, France.
PFC Haynes was a guard of POWs in France near end of war
Lee, Lewis Marshall -- Chief Petty Officer, Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Norfolk, Virginia; Charleston, South Carolina. Chief Lee is one of the last survivors of Pearl Harbor.
He helped rescue sailors in the water from a smaller "Ship boat".
Liponi, Anthony -- Master Sergeant, Air Force Veteran Cold War - Guam (Mariana Islands); Japan; Vietnam. Sgt. LIponi served on a Weather Plane that would fly into typhoons to record them.
Collector of Weather Data
McGinnis, Sr., David Gene -- Petty Officer Third Class, Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Norfolk, Virginia; San Francisco, California; North Africa; European Theater; Northern Mariana Islands; Bougainville Island (Solomon Islands); Borneo; Lingayen (Philippines); Leyte (Philippines); Pacific Theater. Petty Officer McGinnis was a Coxswain of a Landing Vessel from aboard the Combat Supply ship Titania, which was involved in 4 Dday (invasions) first in North Africa, then at three locations in the Pacific theater and from there in a Dday in Korean War.
Titania loading up Landing Vessels (Higgins Boats)
Milligan, Jr., Herbert M. -- Sergeant, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Iwo Jima; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Camp Carson, Colorado; Pacific Theater Sgt. Milligan was in "mop up" operations after the bloody battle of Iwo Jima. His duty was to guard the seabees repairing the vital air field there. Japanese soldiers were still hidden in the vast number of underground complexes and coming out and fighting the U. S. Soldiers.
Sgt. Milligan's best buddy was killed trying to talk the Japanese soldiers out of a cave.
Moulton, Carlos R. -- Sergeant, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Belgium. Sgt. Moulton was fighting in Belgium near end of WW2 sickened that he had to kill young boys all who the Nazis had left at that time.
Nazi youth nicknamed the "Werewolves" were the most fanatical Nazi soldiers being indoctrinated from a very early age to fight to the death for Hitler.
Porter, William W. -- Commander, Air Force, Air Force, Air Force Veteran World War II, 1939-1945, Korean War, 1950-1953, Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Washington, D.C.; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Philippines; Korea; Vietnam. Capt. Porter astoundingly was in three wars: WW2, Korea and in Vietnam.He was a fighter pilot in WW2 and in Korea. He won two Distinguished Air Medals in both places and was an intelligence officer in Vietnam. All of his service was aboard Aircraft Carriers.
Commander Porter made over 440 landings without a mishap
Quinton, Garland G. -- Navy Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Aleutian Islands (Alaska). Quintan was a corpsman on a ship off an Aleutian Islands where he reported having to treat many wounded soldiers.
Ship off of Aleutian Island, Alaska WW2
Rockefeller, John Jay -- Marine Corps Veteran Korean War, 1950-1953 - Parris Island, South Carolina; California; Korea ]. He was awarded a Purple Heart wounded several times which he blames on "friendly fire".
Saunders, Percy L. -- Colonel, Marine Corps, Army, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945, Korean War, 1950-1953, Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Parris Island, South Carolina; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Philippines; Korea; Vietnam. Another veteran who astoundingly served in three wars: WW2 (a Marine), Korea (a fighter pilot) and in Vietnam as a Special Services Officers (running canteens all over the country, having dangerous helicopter trips between bases where he volunteered to be a gunner and won a Bronze Star).
Fighter plane ss piloted by Saunders in Korea
Syfrett, Harold Walter -- Chief Electrician's Mate, Navy Veteran World War I, 1939-1945 - Norfolk, Virginia; Washington, DC; Pacific Ocean. Syfrett served on the Yorktown (CV 10) in WW2 which replaced the Yorktown (CV 5) which was sunk at Midway. Rev. Syfrett, becoming a minister after the war, was very instrumental at bringing the Yorktown (CV10) to Charleston saving it from the scrap pilel He is presently the honorary Chaplain aboard this battle ship.
Yorktown Museum in Charleston, S. C.
Tindal, Sullivan -- Corporal, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - Normandy, France; Berlin, Germany. Corporal Tindall landed on the bloodiest beach on Dday "numbed" as 200 of his 250 member company was killed on the beach. He managed to fight on to the river just outside Berlin, where the Americans gave way to the Russians on the other side of the River.
Dday carnage on Omaha Beach
Wright, Dan -- Technician Four, Army Veteran World War II, 1939-1945 - New Guinea; Luzon (Philippines); Pacific Theater. Rev. Wright fought in New Guinea and in the Phillipines as a jeep driver and body guard of his capt. in New Guinea and as a POW guard in the Phillippines. After the war, he was proud of becoming ordained as an AME minister at the famous Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, S. C. From there he helped built his own church in Jacksonboro, S. C. He was buried there in 2016, and this writer was honored to be at his "Celebration Memorial" at the beautiful overfilled church. He was also very happy to be on the last Honor Flight for WW2 Veterans to Washington, D.C. in 2015.
Rev. Dan on the last Honor Flight to Washington, D. C
