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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • Service History Note: The veteran is the winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics. The veteran participated in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics. The veteran served as West Point Military Academy’s first black track and field coach.
  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 82nd Airborne Division; 9th Infantry Division; US Military Academy
  • Location of Service: Vietnam; Okinawa, Japan; Korea; West Point, New York; Fort Bragg, North Carolina
  • Highest Rank: Captain

View full service history

"I said, 'Mom, we don’t sit in the back of the bus anymore. I just got back from fighting for this country…'" (Video interview, 51:00)

A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Melvin “Mel” Pender experienced racial prejudice and segregation firsthand during his childhood and young adulthood. Seeking escape, and inspired by the combat soldier and actor Audie Murphy, Pender decided to join the Army in 1955, at age 17. While stationed in Okinawa, Pender was recruited for the 1964 Olympic track and field team. At age 27, he competed in the 100-meter dash in Tokyo, where he placed sixth due to an injury. In 1967, Pender was pulled out of Vietnam to train for the 1968 Olympics, where he and his teammates won the gold medal for the 4x100 meter relay. Following his military service, he served as West Point’s first African-American track coach.

About this Item

Title

  • Melvin T. Pender, Jr. Collection

Names

  • Bruckner, William
  • Atlanta History Center
  • Jones, Gordon
  • Pender Jr., Melvin T.

State of Birth

  • GA

Home State

  • GA

Headings

  • -  Pender Jr., Melvin T.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Notes

  • -  Original collection material is also retained at the Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, Georgia.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Service History Note: The veteran is the winner of gold medal in 4x100 m relay at the 1968 Summer Olympics. The veteran participated in the 1964 and 1968 Olympics. The veteran served as West Point Military Academy’s first black track and field coach.
    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 82nd Airborne Division; 9th Infantry Division; US Military Academy
    • Location of Service: Vietnam; Okinawa, Japan; Korea; West Point, New York; Fort Bragg, North Carolina
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Dates of Service: 1955-1976
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: Digital File [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 08/22/2016)
  • Video: Digital File [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected 08/22/2016)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/110915

Cite as

  • Melvin T. Pender, Jr. Collection (AFC/2001/001/110915), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Bruckner, William, Atlanta History Center, Gordon Jones, and Melvin T Pender Jr. Melvin T. Pender, Jr. Collection. 1955. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.110915/.

APA citation style:

Bruckner, W., Atlanta History Center, Jones, G. & Pender Jr, M. T. (1955) Melvin T. Pender, Jr. Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.110915/.

MLA citation style:

Bruckner, William, et al. Melvin T. Pender, Jr. Collection. 1955. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.110915/>.