Bronze Star Medal (U.S.)

Scope and Contents

This collection follows Joseph T. Bannan as he served aboard the U.S.S. Panamint (AGC13). He was under the command of Admiral Arthur D. Struble. On this ship were photograph developers that obtained the picture of renowned wartime journalist, Ernie Pyle, lying dead on the island of Le Shima. Only two copies were ever made and the original was destroyed shortly after its creation to prevent a decline in American morale. This collection contains a photocopy of one of the original copies owned by Bannan.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains artifacts, papers, and photographs that belonged to Clyde Campbell Beaver from his time serving in the U.S. Army in the Corps of Engineers as a draftsman during World War II in the Pacific Theater.  The artifacts include his draftsman tools, jacket, camera, and Bronze Star.  The papers include official Army documents, newspaper clippings about Clyde, a personal letter to his wife, Adele Beaver, and a telegram.  The photographs include photographs of Clyde in the Philippines, photographs with his wife and mother, and photographs he took himself.

Content Description

This collection relates to Samuel L. Bray and his service in the U.S. Army. Samuel L. Bray served in the Army before, during, and after World War II. During World War II, then Lieutenant Samuel L. Bray served in Europe with the Signal Corps, fighting at the Battle of Metz in the United States Third Army. While in Europe, Samuel L. Bray served in France and Germany, then moving to Japan during the United States occupation post World War II. This collection contains photographs, post cards, documents, and artifacts relating to the life, service, and death of Samuel L. Bray.

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This manuscript relates to Sergeant Charles Alden Haug who served with Company B, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division during World War II in the European Theater of Operations. He was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge and Bronze Star Medal. This collection contains an unpublished manuscript memoir.

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This collection includes 17 articles, which all pertain to either Francis Yonkin or the 11th Armored Division/3rd Army during World War II as they moved through Europe following the invasion of Normandy during World War II. Also included are 20 photographs, which include some of Francis Yonkin, and also prints of Nazi officers (in Paris at restaurants), and also photographs of tanks and the 11th Armored, as well as stock photographs of General Eisenhower, Churchill, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt (possibly from the Tehran Conference).

Scope and Contents

This manuscript memoir relates to Joseph Freilick who served with the 102nd Infanty Division during World War II in the European Theater.

Scope and Contents This collection consists on a series of papers focused on Albert "Al" Haggerty and the "Three Feathers"  B-24 Liberator Bomber he was assigned as crew chief during World War II. The "Three Feathers" bomber belonging to the 726th Bomber Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group. Documents in the collection include Haggerty's memories of his time with the plane, photocopies of pictures of the plane and the crew as well as an excerpt from a book were Sidney Winski, the first pilot of this aircraft,  recounts the "Three Feathers" incident, and finally the transcript of an interview where Haggerty provides a detailed account of his life, his time in training, the "Three Feathers incident," his...

Scope and Contents The materials in this collection document the experiences of Helen Toles Buffington, a young woman growing up during World War II, as well as the experiences of Herman Buffington, who served with the 96th Infantry Division as a combat soldier who fought in the Battle of Okinawa. Included in the collection is a transcript of Mrs. Buffington’s high school diary, in which she details her daily activities and emotions from 1941 to 1945. Also included in the collection are excerpts from a diary Helen kept while attending Young Harris College and excerpts from a diary Helen kept during the summer of 1945 while working as a phone operator at the Bell Aircraft Corporation, a major...

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Master Sergeant Herman J. Daum who served with the 673rd Engineer Topographic Company and was attached to General George S. Patton's 3rd Army. The collection contains personal papers associated with Master Sergeant Daum's service in the United States Army during World War II including his promotion certificate, Bronze Star Citation, his wife's Certificate of Citizenship, and photographs of his time in training at Camp Campbell, KY. The collection also contains a wedding photograph and a portrait style photograph of his wife's brother in his Naval uniform. Additionally, this collection contains Master Sergeant Daum's rank insignia, his Bronze Star, and the...

Scope and Contents This collection relates to James W. Harrington who served with the 101st Airborne Division during World War II. This collection includes a manuscript entitled Return to Ville de Bastogne: A Time Remembered, which concerns the Battle for Bastogne, Belgium. This manuscript consists of a 10-page memoir of the Battle of the Bulge following Harrington's return visit to Bastogne 53 years later. He describes his division's encampment prior to the Battle of the Bulge. This manuscript is an exclusive Battle of the Bulge memoir. An additional page entitled "A Trek Remembered" is an account of a specific experience on December 17, 1944. It also includes...

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview transcript of Sergeant James H. Hinson, Jr. details his experiences during World War II with the 132nd Ordnance Maintenance Company, 11th Tank Battalion in the United States Army, in the European Theater of Operations. His oral history focuses on his childhood, basic training, D-Day, capturing German soldiers, being awarded the Bronze Star, home front support, visiting Buchenwald Concentration Camp, playing baseball overseas, returning to college, and his outlook on the military.

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This collection relates to James W. George who served as a Chief Master Sergeant in the 9th U.S Army Air Force. Wilmot R. George was James George's brother and also served in the European Theater. He served as a Tech Sergeant and received a Silver Star. This collection contains a one-page handwritten summary of James George's military service and ten-page memoir of his brother Wilmont's service during the Second World War.

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This World War II collection relates to Covieau Rohlin and Rohlin's close wartime friendship with U.S. Army Air Corps Colonel Thomas Settle Voss. Voss served as base commander of MacDill Field, FL and 1st Advanced Air Depot Area in the European Theater.  The collection includes a captured framed lithograph of Le Mans-La Cathedrale St. Julien by Barday, 1933, MacDill Field Thunderbird magazines, Liberty magazine, unpublished memoirs of Colonel Voss, photographs of Voss, and military documents.

Content Description

This collection contains the official orders and other documents related to the service John F. Dunn who served as a pilot with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II and his postwar service with Strategic Air Command and in Vietnam. The collection contains little personal correspondence, but does include photographs of Dunn’s career and aerial maps of Japan from 1945. A set of maps of Japan also make up the collection along with a number of medals awarded to Dunn.

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This collection relates to Staff Sergeant Johnson Wood's experiences during World War II as a machine gunner in the 100th Infantry Division, 398th Regiment, Company K. His papers include a lengthy and detailed oral history transcript, poems, and a short manuscript. These materials focus on his actions and thoughts during the war, as well as World War II in public memory and his personal relationships with friends and family.

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This collection contains an unpublished biography of Joseph Peters entitled "An Ordinary Hero." Peters served as a medical doctor in the Philippines during World War II and retired a Colonel. The collection also includes a letter about his 1952 retirement and a letter to his daughter about an injury stating that the initial injury was sustained upon capture by the Japanese in 1942.

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The James R. Pemberton oral history interview transcript includes his time as a sergeant in the 103rd Infantry Division, 410th Regiment, Company K, 3rd Platoon, 3rd Squadron. He served as an engineer in France, Germany, and Austria from 1943-1945 and participated at D-Day and Battle of the Bulge. He documents his experiences during the war in regards to his military training, losing friends, taking German prisoners, how he earned his Bronze Star Medal, specific events in which he participated, and his pre/post-war activities.

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The Peter R. Durland papers illustrate Captain Peter R. Durland's experiences during his time as a member of the 70th Infantry Division and 29th Infantry Division of the United States Army from 1943-1946. From 1945-1946, Durland served as Major General Leroy Watson's aide, completing various tasks for the General and accompanying him to the Nuremberg Trials. The collection includes an oral history interview transcript, photographs, and papers related to the war crime trials.

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This collection contains the personal papers of Sergeant Philip Hosid of Company D 110th Infantry Regiment of the 11th Armored Division. In this collection are Hosid's discharge papers, Certificate for a Bronze Star, Authorization for Issuance of Awards, Newspaper clippings of 11th Armored Division's liberation of Mauthausen, a Certificate of Appreciation,The Thunderbolt: The Official Publication of the 11th Armored Division, and an 11th Armored Division periodical.

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Richard Webb was a storekeeper first class in the US Navy in the European Theater. He was a mail clerk and storekeeper and received three Bronze Stars This collection includes a 10-page typed memoir about a trip to England aboard the LST-293, an account of D-Day, and an account of actions taken at Mount St. Michel. Also included are his reflections on death and dying and the role of "ducks" in WWII as well as 28 photographs of the LST, its crew, the dead and wounded GIs on D-Day, German POWs, and other naval craft.

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This collection relates to Russell Homer Johnson who served as Operations Officer with 1st Battalion, 242nd Infantry Regiment of the 42nd "Rainbow" Infantry Division during and after World War II and was discharged with the rank of Major. This collection contains various ephemera containing German money, "Rainbow Division" unit patch, memorabilia, a sketch of Russell, Western Union telegram, and official letters, family correspondence, military documents, photocopies of a scrapbook, and original photographs. Photographs include two of Johnson with Medal of Honor recipient Vito R. Bertoldo, scenes from the aftermath of the Battle of Hatten France, and the occupation of Austria.

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Technical Sergeant Seth A. McKinney served as a flight engineer and a gunner on a B-24 Liberator stationed at Cerignola, Italy. He completed over 40 missions as a part of the 767th Bombardment Squadron, 461st Bombardment Group of the 15th Air Force.  This collection includes photographs, documents, and artifacts.

Scope and Contents The collection of Carlton K. Smith, who served with the 185th Field Artillery during World War II, contains an oral history transcript of an interview provided by the Reichelt Program for Oral History.  This collection also contains a World War II history magazine, correspondence with French General Pierre Denis, summaries of unit actions, personal letters to family, newspaper clippings, unit newsletters, a binder with photocopies of newspaper articles, and one copy of Liberty's Victorious Conflict: A Photographic History of the World War I. In the oral history interview, Smith discusses the combat situations in which he was involved including the...

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This collection relates to Technical Sergeant John B. Sozzio who served with the Transportation Corps, 9th Traffic Regulation Group, in the European Theater during World War II. Sozzio was awarded the Bronze Star medal for his actions during the Ardennes offensive in December 1944 through January 1945. The collection includes a handwritten daily railway log of activities that was maintained by Sozzio, memoirs, photographs, handwritten notes, and military-related documents.

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This collection relates to Sergeant Tillman Joe Rutledge, who served in the 31st Infantry Regiment of the United States Army in the Far East's Philippine Division. After the fall of Bataan in April 1942, he was captured as a prisoner of war until 1945. This collection consists of one box of personal papers, including the original diary he kept during his internment and photocopies. It also contains an original draft and signed copy of his book My Japanese POW Diary Story; a 36-page oral history transcript; letters to and from his family; newspaper clippings; various government documents; and photographs.

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to First Sergeant William Ernest Spence who served with the 11th Antiaircraft Auto Weapons Group in the European Theater during the World War II. The collection includes letters, foreign currency, military service documents, photographs, a newspaper, postcards, and ephemera.