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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • Service History Note: The veteran served as a Chaplain with the Navy and the Marines.
  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975; World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Navy; Marine Corps; Merchant Marine
  • Location of Service: Atlantic; Pacific; Asia
  • Highest Rank: Commander

View full service history

"This is the unique ministry of the chaplaincy... When you become a chaplain, everybody in your outfit is your responsibility, regardless of their religion." (Video Interview, 1:00:46)

Willard Bartlett had a long career in the military, divided into two terms of service. As a teenager, he joined the Merchant Marines late in World War II. After the war, he finished his studies at the Merchant Marine Academy, sailed for a year, then decided to become a minister. After the Korean War began, he enlisted in the Navy as a chaplain instead of a seaman. He preached not only to his fellow Christians but also to Jews (though he once mistakenly put a cloth with a cross on it over his pulpit for a service). He even invited his ship's atheists to a meeting to compare beliefs. Bartlett was attached to a Marine Corps unit in Vietnam, where he had to answer the eternal question, "Hey Chaplain, did Jesus ever have to go to the bathroom?"

About this Item

Title

  • Willard W. Bartlett Collection

Names

  • Alholm, K.
  • Fredrickson, Kurt
  • Bartlett, Willard W.
  • 13th Coast Guard District, Seattle, Washington

State of Birth

  • MN

Home State

  • OR

Headings

  • -  Bartlett, Willard W.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Merchant Marine.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Form

  • MiniDV

Extent

  • 2 items

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a Chaplain with the Navy and the Marines.
    • Branch of Service: Merchant Marine
    • Location of Service: Atlantic; Pacific; Asia
    • Highest Rank: Commander
    • Dates of Service: 1944-1976
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Military Status: Veteran

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: MiniDV [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 08/28/2005)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/44045

Cite as

  • Willard W. Bartlett Collection (AFC/2001/001/44045), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

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/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:

Alholm, K, Kurt Fredrickson, Willard W Bartlett, and Seattle 13Th Coast Guard District. Willard W. Bartlett Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.44045/.

APA citation style:

Alholm, K., Fredrickson, K., Bartlett, W. W. & 13Th Coast Guard District, S. (1944) Willard W. Bartlett Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.44045/.

MLA citation style:

Alholm, K, et al. Willard W. Bartlett Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.44045/>.