Military History Commons^™

First Baptist Church - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Mss 160), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Military service records (351 p.) compiled in 2005 of First Baptist Church members, Bowling Green, Kentucky. Includes World War II, Korean War, Vietnamese Conflict, and Persian Gulf War veterans. Some photos, also.

0752: Charles Edward Viers Collection, 1889-2004, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection consists of personal papers and materials related to Mr. Charles Edward Viers. The collection is divided into three series: Series 1: Papers, Series 2: Photographs, and Series 3: Items. Series 1 primarily covers legal documents relating to deeds and oil and gas contracts (found in the lockbox in Series 3), clippings related to Viers receiving the Purple Heart and Bronze Star Medal in 1996, teaching documents such as contracts and two report cards, Viers’ Marshall transcripts, Viers’ military papers and a small amount of correspondence from 1945 and 1995-1996, and Civil War discharge papers and an arrest of …

Bailey, Ruby B. (Permenter), 1910-1991 (Sc 1447), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1447. Letter written by Ruby Bailey, Houston, Texas, to friend Alice (Ray) Pounds, Troy, Texas, describing how her life has been affected by her husband's service in World War II.

Stalin's Holy War: Religion, Nationalism, And Alliance Politics, 1941–1945 (Book Review), David Brandenberger

History Faculty Publications

The Kremlin tête-à-tête and the iconoclastic revival of the Russian Orthodox Church that followed have long intrigued those writing about ideological change in the USSR under Stalin. Many believe that the concessions to the church were an exigency of war designed to increase the party’s ability to rally support from among even the most reluctant members of Soviet society. Others consider the revival of the church to have been part of a more thoroughgoing Russiªcation of the USSR in the mid- to late 1930s that rehabilitated aspects of the Russian national past for mobilizational purposes well before 1941. In Stalin’s …

Braber, Thomas Cornelius, 1922-2008 (Sc 1437), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1437. World War II poem written by U.S. soldier Thomas C. Braber about the Omaha Beach battle (6 June 1944) on the European battlefront. Also printout of a photo of Braber and his salvage group on Omaha Beach, and related data.

0742: John E. Wellman Photograph Collection, 1943-1988, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

This collection is primarily composed of digital copies of a photograph album containing photographs taken by John E. Wellman, a combat photographer with the 571st Bomb squadron, 390th Bombing group, 8th Air Force, 1943-1945. Photographs show B-17s and fighter planes in formation, bombing runs, aerial views of bombs and ground attacks, and anti-aircraft fire during World War II. Other materials in the album include a 1943 class photo from the Army Air Force Technical Training School at Lowry Field, group and training photographs, a certificate signifying service in the 390th bomb group, and a 1988 color photograph featuring Wellman at …

Interview No. 1654, Emmet E. Cook Sr.

Combined Interviews

Emmet E. Cook, Sr. was born in Fort Worth, TX, on March 5, 1918; he became interested in aviation following Charles Lindberg’s flight across the Atlantic, he lived near Meacham Air Field; he attended Texas A&M and majored in mechanical engineering; he was failing so a took test for aviation cadet and attended Alan Hancock School of Aeronautics in Santa Maria, CA; he revealed that he was dismissed due to lack of facilities; he mentions he applied for the British Royal Air Force; he says he went back to Fort Worth to fly planes and got his commercial license; Mr. …

Chelf, Owen Ross, 1918-1997 (Mss 151), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 151. Papers chiefly of Owen Ross Chelf, a native of Lebanon, Kentucky, with most of the collection focusing on his World War II army service in Europe and his avid interest in muskie fishing.

Ua1b2/1 War & Wku, Kim Purvis

Student/Alumni Personal Papers

A paper regarding how WKU was affected by war during the 20th century, includes an overview of protest movements and underground newspapers in the late 1960's.

Interview No. 1631, Cornelia Love Owen

Combined Interviews

Ms. Owen recounts the various physicians her father knew like Dr. Holman, his work at Hotel Du Catholic Hospital, Masonic, Southwestern General; she recalls going to Sullins College in Virginia with friends; she explains why she decided to go to Texas College of the Mines now UTEP; she gives information about her husband, sold oxygen and acetylene supplies for mining use; she describes living on Federal St. with her husband and son Dale, her son went to Southern Methodist University and later UTEP for his master’s. She provides background information on her father, born in Arkansas in 1868; she explains …

Interview No. 1629, Robert M. Hardaway

Combined Interviews

In this interview, retired Brigadier General Robert Hardaway shares details of his remarkable life as an army surgeon, in particular his memories of World War II and the Korean War, as well as his continuing life-saving research. Hardaway entered military life in 1916, the year of his birth, as his father was the post surgeon at Camp John Hay in the Philippines. He spent his childhood traveling extensively as the army transferred his father successively to Paris, France, Denver’s Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, and St. Louis, Missouri. Eventually, Hardaway left home in order to pursue his medical …

Martin, Dorenda May, 1925-1952 (Sc 1396), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and typescript (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1396. Letter, 1944, written by Dorenda Martin, Washington, D.C., to her parents in Smiths Grove, Kentucky. She describes her clerical work, her exploration of the city, and life at Arlington Farms, a temporary housing facility for women civil servants and service members. Includes associated items and photo.

The 55th College Training Detachment Of The Army Air Corps Program On The Gettysburg College Campus, 1943-1944, Julia Grover

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The 55th College Training Detachment of the Air Force Cadet Program came to Gettysburg College in 1943. It was a separate program designed to provide educated officers for the Air Corps in the United States Army. These trainees would not only learn military drill, physical training, medical aid and flight skills, but they would also study physics, math, English, history, and geography. They were taught by members of the Gettysburg College staff and housed on campus, in dorms and fraternity houses.Their presence on campus was a constant reminder for regular students that the country was in the midst of a …

Where The Clouds Meet The Water, Kimberly E. Contag, James A. (Jim) Grabowska

MSU Authors Collection

Where the Clouds Meet the Water follows the historical journey of the German Ecuadorian widower, Ernst Contag, and his four young children from their home in the South American Andes to Nazi Germany in 1942. Blacklisted as an enemy alien, Ernst Contag and his children are forcibly repatriated to the country of Ernst's grandparents as part of a diplomatic exchange arranged by the United States' State Department and cooperating countries. In Nazi Germany, Ernst and his children must deny their Ecuadorian past and learn to live as Germans. The Contag family strives to keep the ray of hope in their …

Aspley Family (Sc 1377), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1377. World War II letters, 1942-1943 (5), written stateside and from Europe by Aspley brothers Robert Charles ("Charlie") and William Neil ("Billy") to parents and friends in Bowling Green, Kentucky, chiefly discussing everyday camp life. Charlie writes one letter from a German prisoner of war camp. Includes obituaries, newspaper clippings, etc.

Downing, Dero Goodman, 1921-2011 (Sc 1373), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1373. Letters written by Dero G. Downing as a Western Kentucky University student, Bowling Green, Kentucky, 1942, and as a Navy officer, 1944-1945, to his parents, Horse Cave, Kentucky and Dunbar, West Virginia. Discusses events as a member of the WKU basketball team that played in the NCAA tournament. Includes some news of his naval life.

Review Of In The Shadows Of War :An American Pilot's Odyssey Through Occupied France And The Camps Of Nazi Germany, Michael F. Russo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Rogers, Odie Floyd, Jr. 1921-1957 (Sc 1386), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1386. World War II diary kept by Odie Floyd Rogers, Jr. (1921-1957) Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, who was a member of a flight crew that evidently was stationed in Sicily. They bombed chiefly Italian targets. Rogers completed 66 missions. Includes a 2001 letter with data on planes flown by Rogers.

Knisley, Clyde Vernon, Jr., 1918-1945 (Mss 84), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 84 and full text of selected letters (Click on "Additional Files" below). World War II letters of Greeneville, Tennessee native Clyde Vernon Knisley, Jr. written to his parents, documenting his fighter pilot training and his war experiences, 31 October 1941 to 15 January 1945, and diary kept in New Guinea, 25 February to 13 December 1943. Includes family's notification of his death, his awards, photographs, and related materials.

The L&N'S Battalion: The Story Of The 728th Railway Operating Battalion, Sponsored By The Louisville And Nashville Railroad Company During The Second World War, David Matthew Wilkins

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Supply by rail was an important component of Allied strategy during the Second World War. Special units, called Railway Operating Battalions, were set up by the United States Army to serve in this fashion. The Louisville and Nashville Railroad sponsored one unit, the 728th Railway Operating Battalion, which operated the important rail facilities around Cherbourg, France, a key allied port in the critical period after the Normandy Invasions.

" ... Verlangt Das Gesunde Volksempfinden Die Schwerste Strafe ...": Das Sondergericht Für Die Operationszone Alpenvorland 1943-1945. Ein Vorbericht, Gerald Steinacher

Department of History: Faculty Publications

Seit Kriegsende 1945 gelten die Akten des Amtes "Oberster Kommissar für die Operationszone Alpenvorland" Franz Hofer als verschollen.2 Die Quellen- und Wissenslage zur Geschichte der Operationszone Alpenvorland ist dementsprechend dürftig. Das trifft besonders auf das Sondergericht für die Operationszone Alpenvorland zu. Im Rahmen der Bestandsaufnahme im Archiv des Landesgerichts (Tribunal) in Bozen im Oktober 2001 konnte nun auch ein kleiner Bestand Akten des Sondergerichts geborgen werden. Es handelt sich dabei um eine Mappe mit insgesamt 20 Akten der Jahre 1944- 1945.3 Neben diesen meist vollständigen Akten (Ermittlungsergebnisse, Anklage, Verhandlung, Urteil, Gnadenanträge, Gefängnisunterlagen, Sterberegistermitteilung, sogar ein Abschiedsbrief usw.) kann man aus …

Torreyson, Charles Hail, 1902-1973 (Sc 1340), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1340. World War II letters, 1944-1945, (27) written by Charles Torreyson to his wife Betsy, in Scottsville, Kentucky. He describes life in the Seabees, in Camp Pearcy, Virginia, and in New Guinea.

Smith, Robert Lee, 1913-1998 (Sc 1306), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1306. Letter, 21 March 1945, written by Robert L. Smith, Philippine Islands, to his sister Mrs. Layton Blick, Logan County, Kentucky. Smith mentions the many Japanese that have been slain in the Philippines. Includes V-mail advising of Smith's new address.

Wwii Pacific Theatre Maps, Jacqueline D. Goins

Kaleidoscope

No abstract provided.

Review Of Interrogations: The Nazi Elite In Allied Hands, Michael F. Russo

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

United Service Organizations - Bowling Green, Kentucky (Mss 134), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 134. Registration cards kept of visitors to the Bowling Green, Kentucky United Service Organization during World War II. Most of the cards fall in the range of letters Mc-Z.

Page, George Vernon, 1890-1985 - Letters To (Mss 6), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 6. Letters written by former students in various services during World War II (a few from the Korean War) to George Vernon Page, Professor of Physics, Western Kentucky State Teachers College (now Western Kentucky University).

Les Vannetais Letters To Kemp Mabry, Zach S. Henderson Library Special Collections

Finding Aids

The collection consists of fifty-seven letters from French residents of Vannes to Dr. (then Sgt.) Kemp Mabry, spanning 1945-53. Letters from members of the L'Honnen and Le Bourgne families, and especially from Suzanne Le Gleuher (later Saporita). User copies of the letters of “Les Vannetais” in two bound volumes are also included

Find this collection in the University Libraries' catalog.

0702: Kenneth Hechler Collection, Book Correspondence, 1954-1998, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Letters to Cecil Roberts of Fort Worth, Texas about Hechler's book, "The Bridge at Remagen"; includes a letter from L. E. Engeman, Col. U. S. Army ret., who commanded the 14th Tank Battalion at the taking of the bridge.

The Status And Needs Of Small Businesses Owned And Controlled By Disabled Veterans, Paul R. Camacho

William Joiner Institute for the Study of War and Social Consequences Publications

This introduction provides a thumbnail sketch, or landscape, of the history and conditions of veterans’ benefits against which to profile the issue of veterans’ small business opportunities. After years of applied research on issues pertaining to the veteran community, it has become abundantly clear to this researcher that the good people who serve in our federal and state agencies, and as staff persons in various congressional and state legislative offices often lack the data and/or information they need to fully and meaningfully address the needs of veterans and their families. This situation is no doubt a result of demographic facts. …