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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Unit of Service: Port Chicago, 4th Division
  • Location of Service: United States; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Seaman First Class

View full service history

“My experience in the Navy was a pitiful thing.” (Video interview 41:40)

Enlisting in the Navy in 1943, Seaman First Class Carl Tuggle hoped to be given an assignment as an aviation mechanic. Instead, despite the fact that he had never received training in munitions handling, he was shipped to Port Chicago, California, to work as a stevedore loading and unloading ammunition from ships headed to the Pacific Theater. Days at Port Chicago were long and arduous, with no opportunities for leave or off-duty recreation. On March 17, 1944, a munitions explosion killed hundreds of Port Chicago sailors--nearly all of them African American--and injured hundreds more. Having survived the blast, Tuggle refused to continue to work under such conditions; charged with mutiny, he was locked up in the brig for three months. The deadliest stateside disaster of World War II, the Port Chicago explosion starkly illuminated segregation and racist practices in the Navy.

About this Item

Title

  • Carl Tuggle Collection

Names

  • Miskimens, Jeff
  • Tuggle, Carl
  • Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • Bryant, John

State of Birth

  • OH

Home State

  • OH

Headings

  • -  Tuggle, Carl
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Unit of Service: Port Chicago, 4th Division
    • Location of Service: United States; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Seaman First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 09/20/2006)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 09/20/2006)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/49547

Cite as

  • Carl Tuggle Collection (AFC/2001/001/49547), 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:

Miskimens, Jeff, Carl Tuggle, Cincinnati Public Library Of Cincinnati And Hamilton County, and John Bryant. Carl Tuggle Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.49547/.

APA citation style:

Miskimens, J., Tuggle, C., Public Library Of Cincinnati And Hamilton County, C. & Bryant, J. (1943) Carl Tuggle Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.49547/.

MLA citation style:

Miskimens, Jeff, et al. Carl Tuggle Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.49547/>.