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Richard Williams

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Persian Gulf War, 1991
  • Branch of Service: Air Force
  • Service Unit/Ship: 20th North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD); 9th Tactical Intelligence Squadron; 603rd Tactical Air Control Squadron; 400th Missile Squadron
  • Location of Service: Fort Lee, Virginia; Shaw Air Force Base, Sembach Air Base, Germany; Vandenberg Shaw Air Force Base, California; F. E. Warren Shaw Air Force Base, Wyoming; Maxwell Shaw Air Force Base, Alabama; New York City, New York; Naples, Italy; RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom
  • Highest Rank: Major
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/87499

View full service history

"It doesn't matter how good you are or who is supporting you…even then, you would get discharged."(Video interview, 33:09)

Major Richard Williams' Air Force career took him around the world, assigned him to missions dealing with everything from space shuttle launches to a study of Gulf War Syndrome, and even buried him deep beneath the earth (during his time as a missile launch officer). Throughout it all, he was aware of the precariousness of life as a gay Airman. In his oral history interview, he speaks eloquently about the toll that discriminatory policies took on the personal relationships of gay members of the military, and calls the end of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy one of the best days of his life.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Richard Dean Williams Collection

Names

  • Quick, David B.
  • Williams, Richard
  • Williams, Richard Dean

Home State

  • Georgia

Headings

  • -  Williams, Richard Dean
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force.
  • -  Persian Gulf War, 1991 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Air Force
    • Service Unit/Ship: 20th North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD); 9th Tactical Intelligence Squadron; 603rd Tactical Air Control Squadron; 400th Missile Squadron
    • Location of Service: Fort Lee, Virginia; Shaw Air Force Base, Sembach Air Base, Germany; Vandenberg Shaw Air Force Base, California; F. E. Warren Shaw Air Force Base, Wyoming; Maxwell Shaw Air Force Base, Alabama; New York City, New York; Naples, Italy; RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom
    • Dates of Service: 1974-1998
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as intelligence analyst, minuteman missile launch officer, mission support squadron commander, and secretary of the Air Force Gulf War Illness Investigation.

  • Persian Gulf War, 1991

    • Branch of Service: Air Force
    • Highest Rank: Major
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2013-02-01)
  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2013-02-01)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2013-02-01; 2013-02-01)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/87499

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/[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:

Quick, David B, Richard Williams, and Richard Dean Williams. Richard Dean Williams Collection. 1974. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.87499/.

APA citation style:

Quick, D. B., Williams, R. & Williams, R. D. (1974) Richard Dean Williams Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.87499/.

MLA citation style:

Quick, David B, Richard Williams, and Richard Dean Williams. Richard Dean Williams Collection. 1974. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.87499/>.