World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American

Scope and Contents

Cecil Blumenstein (served 1943-1945) discusses his experiences in the 13th Armored Division in Germany in the winter and spring of 1945. Blumenstein was captured and spent a brief period of time in a POW camp before being liberated and sent back to the front. He fought in several engagements. This collection consists of an interview transcript.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains two oral histories; one with Dr. Philip Gilman, Jr. and one with James Izumizaki. It also includes the reprint of a letter by Pvt. Lavern Borg, Jr. written on April 2, 1945. The letter tells about his experiences with the 5th Marine Division of the U.S. Marine Corp in the battle of Iwo Jima. The next document includes a service record and medallist dated June 1967, January 1969, and August 1973. A pamphlet collected by the Pajaro Valley Arts Council, California entitled Nihen Bunka Japanese Culture: One hundred years in Pajaro Valley is also in the collection.

Scope and Contents

The collection of Arthur W. Card contains an oral history transcript of an interview conducted by or for the Institute on World War II. He discusses bringing US troops to and from Europe, as well as returning German POWs to Germany at the end of the war. He also discusses his work in the engine room (where he felt proud to be "more important" to the soldiers on the ship because they relied on his work to keep them safe) and his time ashore in Naples, Italy.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains an oral history transcript of Staff Sergeant Charles Diedling, a flight engineer on a B-24 with the 460th Bomb Group at Spinazola, Italy. Charles Diedling discusses his training as a flight engineer and waist gunner for the B-24 at Keesler AFB, Mississippi and Loredo AFB, Texas.  In June of 1944, he was assigned to the 460th Bomb Group of the 15th Air Force in Spinazola, Italy. Diedling was shot down over Germany becoming a prisoner of war.

Scope and Contents

Charles Campbell was bombardier on a B-17 who was shot down over Linz, Austria and captured by the Germans. While in captivity, he was sent to Mauthausen concentration camp and managed to keep a journal of his experiences there. He served with the 483rd Bombardment Group. Just prior to the war's end, Campbell was transferred to an unidentified Stalag and credits this with saving his life. The collection includes reproductions of 483rd Bomb Group artwork, a statement and picture of the Mauthausen concentration camp from after the war, a World War II memoir with pictures and documents and a copy of his obituary.

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to David Westheimer who served as a 1st Lieutenant Navigator on a B-24 Bomber with the 457th Bomb Group during World War II and was shot down over Italy where he became a POW. This collection consists of an oral history transcript of David Westheimer.

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 oral history interview transcript relates to George Logue,  an aerial gunner armament specialist on a B-24 assigned to the 15th Air Force.  Logue discusses his bombing missions over Europe, being shot down, life as a prisoner of war, and his brief service with the British 5th Army.

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Harold Williamson who served as a medical officer in World War II and his wife, Kathryn Williamson, who was a homemaker on the homefront in Ohio. The collection relates to their marriage and family during the war, as well as Harold's service in the 161st Medical Battalion. The collection consists primarily of letters and V-Mails between Harold and Kathryn and photographs of notable places including the homefront in Ohio and Camp Chaffee at Fort Smith, Arkansas and from a wide variety of locations in Italy and of other locations in Europe, particularly Switzerland. The collection also contains Harold's personal journal, ephemera from the war, Harold's military...

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to William H. Jenner (5th Ranger Battalion, U.S. Army). He served from 1942-1945.  Jenner was a Technician Fourth Grade (TEC 4) and wire chief in charge of communications. The collection contains two photographs of William H. Jenner, a copy of an Extract of his Award of Bronze Star Medal, a copy of his Separation Qualification Record, badges, a copy of his Honorable Discharge and a copy of his Enlisted Record and Report of Separation.  There are also two copies of his Veteran Questionnaire. A full transcript of an oral history conducted on November 13-14, 1999 is part of this collection as well.

Scope and Contents

This collection primarily consists of the letters of John B. Savard, an American soldier who fought in World War II and saw action at the Normandy landings, the Battle for Brest, and the D-Day Landings. Most of the material consists of letters to and from his parents, though letters from other soldiers are included. In addition to letters, this collection contains Savard's sketches, a poem he wrote detailing his reaction to the Battle of the Bulge, a manuscript of his autobiography detailing his life from birth to his time as a US Postal Worker and several photographs taken during the Second World War.

Scope and Contents The Paul Curtis Koerner Collection was donated by his daughter Judy Davis. The collection contains a variety of items, papers, and correspondence from Koerner's career as an Army Engineer in WWII. The collection contains his copy of the New Testament that he recieved while training at Camp Blanding, to his death certificate. Overall, the documents and letters provide a rough outline of the experience of army service, during and after the war.  This collection also contains a group photo, stop watch, and medals including Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Armed Forces Service and United Nations Medal, Korean Service Meadal, National Defense Medal, a screw driver, slide ruller, and German back...

Abstract Charlotte Mansfield enlisted in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (W.A.A.C.) in 1942 to pursue work in photograph processing for the military. She was part of the first all-women graduating class from Lowry Field Photo School in Colorado, where she was trained to be a photo technician that developed primarily aerial shots in photography labs. Mansfield was stationed at various locations throughout the United States before being transferred to lab work overseas in England and Germany. By this time, W.A.A.C. had transitioned to Women’s Army Corps (W.A.C.). Throughout her military service, Mansfield took numerous personal photographs that featured her friends and surroundings. They provide...

Scope and Contents

Mario Joseph Patruno's collection includes a manuscript/oral history that covers his service in the 101st Airborne through his wounding in Operation Market Garden. The collection also includes three photographs, two of Patruno and one photograph taken inside Patruno's C-47 Transport on the night of 5 June 1944.

Scope and Contents Roland Cadoret served as a B-17 pilot in the 351st Bomb Group, 8th Air Force, in the European Theater.  His collection contains a manuscript, "The Battle of Grounded Eagles," in which he details his entire POW experience from mission briefing to liberation, an excerpt from his diary, and his photocopied version of General Dwight D. Eisenhower's letter to Invasion Forces. The Polebrook Post 351st Bomb Group Association 8th Airforce Vol. XXVII-No. 2, and the English version of the Moorsburger Beitung, a newspaper, which had special stories all about the POWs which were kept at...

Scope and Contents This collection relates to Herbert Frederick Rothschild who served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army during World War II in the European Theater (ETO) in the 7th Army (which also included the French 1st Army). Rothschild's service also included the 103rd Infantry Division, 411th Infantry Regiment.  The collection contains a manuscript written by Rothschild. The manuscript consists of letters sent by the author to his family, daily military morning reports at the company level, "The Story of the 103rd Infantry Division -- Report After Action," sketches made by the author in Europe, photographs taken by the author and others in his outfit, military documents, excerpts from...

Scope and Contents This collection contains the personal papers of Kenneth A. Skoog.  Skoog served in the European Theater (ETO) in the 121st and the 118th US Army Signal Radio Intelligence Corps. His collection includes nine World War I photos and 82 World War II photos. The World War II photographs related to the 118th and 121st Signal Radio Intelligence Companies. Also included are personal photographs of Skoog, Charles A. Bowen, Jr., and Army comrades. There are photographs taken in Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, and Austria. The collection also includes letters from Charles A. Bowen, Jr., who was a U.S. Marine Corps photographer, to Kenneth A. Skoog. The letters include descriptions of fine art,...

Scope and Contents

This collection was compiled by Edward McKenzie and includes a directory of New Hampshire Ex-POWs book. It is a boxed collection of approroximately 20 individual collections of American POWs who were interned at Stalag 17. The individual collections collectively consist of personal papers, transcripts, documents, photographs, and drawings relating to their experiences as prisoners of war.

Scope and Contents

Leonard J. Travaline (also spelled Traveline in some records) served in the United States Army as an Artilleryman from 1941 to 1945. He served with the 166th Field Artillery Battalion and later the 938th Field Artillery Battallion in the Mediterranean and European Theaters. He served as a front line observer in Oran, North Africa, Italy, France, Germany, and Austria. The collection contains a transcribed daily journal that Travaline kept from the time of his landing in North Africa until the end of the war and his arrival back in the States in September 1945.

Scope and Contents

Hy Wakstein was a Jewish American serviceman who reached the rank of Staff Sergeant with the 778th Anti-Aircraft-Automatic Weapons Battalion, Self Propelled, (served 1943-46) and discusses his experiences as an Army communications officer in the European theater of World War II in this oral history transcript. Wakstein participated in the Battle of the Bulge, and his division advanced further east into Germany than any other American division.