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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: Coast Guard
  • Unit of Service: USS Cambria (APA 36)
  • Location of Service: New Jersey; Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Japan; Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands); Leyte (Philippines); Luzon (Philippines); Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Key West, Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Radioman First Class

View full service history

"A white fella told me [after the Pearl Harbor attack], ‘Well, we have a battle,’ and I said, ‘No, we don’t have one; you have a battle,’ because...I was a real victim of discrimination here in Texas, and I knew I wasn’t wanted, period."(Video Interview, 4:29)

Having grown up in Texas in the 1920s and 1930s, Reby Cary had experienced racial discrimination and was eager to avoid it in the service. So when he was drafted out of graduate school in 1942, he enlisted in the Coast Guard, which was actively recruiting blacks to become able-bodied seamen. He trained as a radio operator and served aboard the Cambria, a ship involved in the invasions of Saipan and Okinawa. Cary was accepted as an equal aboard his ship, so it was more than disappointing when he returned home to find the status quo, right down to black veterans being denied postwar job training. He persevered, becoming an educator, an author, a businessman, and a state legislator.

Transcript: XML

More Resources

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[ Photo Album ]
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[ Biographical information ]
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[ Congressional veteran commendation ]

About this Item

Title

  • Reby Cary Collection

Names

  • Cary, Reby
  • Yeh, James
  • U.S. House of Representatives/Michael Burgess
  • Burgess, Michael

State of Birth

  • TX

Home State

  • TX

Headings

  • -  Cary, Reby
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Coast Guard.

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: Coast Guard
    • Unit of Service: USS Cambria (APA 36)
    • Location of Service: New Jersey; Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Japan; Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands); Leyte (Philippines); Luzon (Philippines); Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Key West, Florida; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Radioman First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 02/27/2007)
  • Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1965 - 2005)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 02/27/2007)
  • Photograph: Photographic print [9 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943 - 1979)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 11/11/2005)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 02/27/2007)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/58790

Cite as

  • Reby Cary Collection (AFC/2001/001/58790), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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:

Cary, Reby, James Yeh, U.S. House Of Representatives/Michael Burgess, and Michael Burgess. Reby Cary Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.58790/.

APA citation style:

Cary, R., Yeh, J., U.S. House Of Representatives/Michael Burgess & Burgess, M. (1942) Reby Cary Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.58790/.

MLA citation style:

Cary, Reby, et al. Reby Cary Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.58790/>.