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Raymond Ayon, Pusan, Korea [December 1950]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Air Force
  • Location of Service: Japan; Korea
  • Highest Rank: Airman First Class
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/21141

View full service history

"It's a fact that when you feel like you're going to die, you can live your whole life through. I found that to be true." (Video Interview, 41:28)

Fascinated with his older brothers' letters home from World War II, 16-year-old Raymond Ayon dropped out of high school in 1945. He signed up for the Merchant Marines--but after a year they learned he was too young. Ayon went back to school, graduated, and enlisted in the Air Force in 1948. His first assignment was with a fighter bomber squadron in Japan, but the Air Force decided to make a medical corpsman out of him. Shortly after the United States went to war in Korea in 1950, Ayon was in the thick of things, loading casualties onto transport planes bound for Japan. He spent time with a MASH unit, claiming it was hardly like what was depicted in the famed TV show. Ayon is sensitive to those who would diminish his service just because he wasn't an infantry soldier.

Interview / Recording

More Resources

[ Honorable discharge certificate with a photo of the veteran, sleeve patches, and other decorations ]
[ A certificate of discharge from the Air Force ]
[ Certificate of appointment to corporal ]
[ Certificate of service in the U.S. Coast Guard ]
[ Merchant Seaman's Certificate of Identification ]

Show more resources (5)

[ DD-214 ]
[ Untitled memoir ]
[ The Merchant Marine 1945 ]
[ The Korean War Memorial and Memoirs of Service in the Forgotten War ]
[ Untitled memoir of veteran's service in Korea ]

About this Item

Title

  • Raymond L. Ayon Collection

Names

  • Dreier, David
  • U.S. House of Representatives/David Dreier
  • Ayon, Raymond L.
  • Schneider, Dorothy M.

Home State

  • California

Headings

  • -  Ayon, Raymond L.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Hispanic

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Air Force
    • Location of Service: Japan; Korea
    • Highest Rank: Airman First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1948-1952
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of photograph (collected 2004-10-28; 2004-10-27)
  • Video: Hi-8/Digital 8 [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2004-10-28; 2004)
  • Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1946)
  • Manuscript: Memoir [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1952)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/21141

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Physical Form

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

Home State

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

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/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

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

Recording:

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

Photograph:

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

Computer file:

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

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), 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:

Dreier, David, U.S. House Of Representatives/David Dreier, Raymond L Ayon, and Dorothy M Schneider. Raymond L. Ayon Collection. 1948. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.21141/.

APA citation style:

Dreier, D., U.S. House Of Representatives/David Dreier, Ayon, R. L. & Schneider, D. M. (1948) Raymond L. Ayon Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.21141/.

MLA citation style:

Dreier, David, et al. Raymond L. Ayon Collection. 1948. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.21141/>.