Giles Odell Lofton, III papers
Scope and Contents
The collection of Seaman First Class Giles Odell Lofton, III contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History. Lofton served in the Navy aboard the USS Wisconsin in the Third Fleet, under Admiral Halsey in the Pacific Theater (PTO) during World War II. The collection also contains documents, U.S.S. Wisconsin papers, photographs of the USS Wisconsin and the Third Fleet during the invasion of Iwo Jima and the surrender of Japan. The photographs show the ships in combat, bombing the shoreline defenses of Iwo Jima, as well as Kamikaze attacks against the fleet. Also, there are photographs of the amphibious landings at Iwo Jima on invasion day, as well as a notice indicating the location of Ernie Pyle's death. The surrender photographs show General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Halsey on the USS Missouri, as well as pictures of Yokohama Bay. "Trench Art" pieces are included in the collection.
Dates
- Created: 1943-1945
- Other: Date acquired: 09/21/1999
Creator
- Lofton, Giles Odell, III., 1925-2015 (Family)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open to all researchers.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to quote, publish, broadcast or otherwise reproduce from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean for Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Florida State University Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.
Biographical or Historical Information
Giles Odell Lofton, III was born in Colquitt, GA, and dropped out of high school to do construction work. He doesn't remember the attack of 7 December 1941. He worked at shipyards until 1943 and saw his four brothers go off to war. He enlisted in the Navy in late 1943 and completed his basic training in Bainbridge, MD, and assigned on the USS Wisconsin. He joined the 3rd Fleet under Admiral Halsey and participated at Leyte, Lingayen Gulf, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and ended the war bombarding the Japanese home islands. He discusses facing Kamikaze attacks. During the postwar period (1946-1950), he used the GI Bill for college at FSU (TBUF) and met his wife there.
Extent
1 folders
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement Note
creator
Custodial History
Transferred from the Institute on World War II and the Human Experience to FSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives in July 2022.
Source of Acquisition
Giles Lofton
Method of Acquisition
donation
- Iwo Jima, Battle of, 1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Japan--History--1945- Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Leyte Gulf, Battle of, Philippines, 1944 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Missouri (Battleship : BB-63) Subject Source: Lcnaf
- Pearl Harbor (Hawaii), Attack on, 1941 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States. Navy--History Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States. Navy--History--20th century Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- United States. Navy. Fleet, 3rd
- Wisconsin (Battleship : BB-64)
- World War, 1939-1945 Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--Amphibious operations Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--Campaigns--Japan--Okinawa Island Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- World War, 1939-1945--United States Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Giles Odell Lofton, III papers
- Author
- Craig Whittington
- Date
- 02/07/2018
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the FSU Special Collections & Archives Repository
116 Honors Way
PO Box 3062047
Tallahassee FL 32306-2047 US
850-644-3271
lib-specialcollections@fsu.edu