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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Service Unit/Ship: B Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Mosul, Iraq; Tal Afar, Iraq; Tuz Khurmatu, Iraq; Najaf, Iraq; Kirkuk, Iraq; Samarra, Iraq; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/83113

View full service history

"My PTSD is more related not to what I did or should have done - but what I failed to do or could have done." (audio interview 03:13:08)

In 2000, Logan Mehl-Laituri enlisted in the Army, training as an Artillery Forward Observer. He reenlisted in 2002, declining a "Green to Gold" ROTC scholarship in favor of a combat deployment with his comrades in the 25th Infantry Division. During his 14 month tour of duty in Iraq, he saw action in every major city except Baghdad and Fallujah. These experiences yielded moral conflict, and in 2006, Mehl-Laituri applied for noncombatant conscientious objector status. Following his Honorable Discharge, he became a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) and completed a Master of Theological Studies degree at Duke University. His reflections were published in a memoir, Reborn on the Fourth of July.

Logan Mehl-Laituri Collection
Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Logan Mehl-Laituri Collection

Names

  • Burgund, John J.
  • Mehl-Laituri, Logan

State of Residence at Time of Collection Donation

  • North Carolina

Headings

  • -  Mehl-Laituri, Logan
  • -  Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Other

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Iraq War, 2003-2011

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Service Unit/Ship: B Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Mosul, Iraq; Tal Afar, Iraq; Tuz Khurmatu, Iraq; Najaf, Iraq; Kirkuk, Iraq; Samarra, Iraq; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 2000-2006
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2012-03-13; 2012-03-13)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2012-03-20; 2012-03-20)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2012-03-20; 2012-03-20)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2012-03-13; 2015-06-10)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2012-03-20; 2015-06-10)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2012-03-20; 2015-06-10)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/83113

Online Format

  • audio

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:

Burgund, John J, and Logan Mehl-Laituri. Logan Mehl-Laituri Collection. 2000. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.83113/.

APA citation style:

Burgund, J. J. & Mehl-Laituri, L. (2000) Logan Mehl-Laituri Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.83113/.

MLA citation style:

Burgund, John J, and Logan Mehl-Laituri. Logan Mehl-Laituri Collection. 2000. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.83113/>.