Top of page

Collection Veterans History Project Collection

« Back to Hispanics in Service page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 101st Airborne Division
  • Location of Service: Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort Benning, Georgia; Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: Specialist Four

View full service history

"There was no reward for people returning from Vietnam, especially in the Army." (Audio interview, 2:40)

For Leroy Quintana, serving in the 101st Airborne in Vietnam at the height of U.S. involvement was a jumpstart to his education. After graduating from high school, he earned a living playing pool for a year, then attended the University of New Mexico for a year before dropping out. Drafted in 1967, Quintana did consider at one point--when he was posted at Ft. Lewis, Washington--fleeing across the border into Canada. But his mother had inculcated in him respect for military service, and he stayed on. In country, he kept a notebook of his experiences on five-man reconnaissance teams. Though he came to see many aspects of the war with skepticism and he was disappointed with the lack of recognition (and worse) for returning veterans, he did appreciate the sense of responsibility the Army had taught him. Quintana would become a published, award-winning poet who sometimes used his days in the service as inspiration for his work.

Leroy V. Quintana Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

More Resources

View Enlarged Image
[ Photo Album ]

About this Item

Title

  • Leroy V. Quintana Collection

Names

  • Olson, Roger
  • Nancy Bond Rowland
  • Quintana, Leroy V.
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • San Diego Mesa College, California

State of Birth

  • NM

Home State

  • CA

Headings

  • -  Quintana, Leroy V.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Hispanic

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 101st Airborne Division
    • Location of Service: Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Fort Benning, Georgia; Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: Specialist Four
    • Dates of Service: 1967-1969
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 10/01/2004)
  • Photograph: Digital print [1 item] -- Portrait (collected 1986)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 10/01/2004)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/26622

Cite as

  • Leroy V. Quintana Collection (AFC/2001/001/26622), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • online text

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:

Olson, Roger, Nancy Bond Rowland, Leroy V Quintana, National Court Reporters Association, and California San Diego Mesa College. Leroy V. Quintana Collection. 1967. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.26622/.

APA citation style:

Olson, R., Nancy Bond Rowland, Quintana, L. V., National Court Reporters Association & San Diego Mesa College, C. (1967) Leroy V. Quintana Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.26622/.

MLA citation style:

Olson, Roger, et al. Leroy V. Quintana Collection. 1967. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.26622/>.