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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Unit C3, 162nd Signal Company, Photographic Company, Army Pictorial Service
  • Location of Service: North Africa; Sicily, Italy
  • Highest Rank: Captain

View full service history

"I pointed out to [the colonel] that one of my pictures had been published in the Army's photographic history of World War II with an erroneous caption. And he looked at me and he said, 'Lieutenant, we don't make mistakes.' And I said, 'Thank you, sir.'" (Audio Interview, Part 2, 15:22)

In 1941,William Wilson began his career with the 162nd Signal Company Photo in a most inauspicious way: for three months, he laid cable at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. By the time he was discharged in 1945, his photos had been published in Life and Look magazines, and he had worked with and become good friends with Ernie Pyle. Wilson's photos from World War II, both official and personal, number in the hundreds. Depicting both the tragedy of war—a rainy funeral for a fallen G.I.—and the tragicomic—his only war injury: a broken toe—Wilson's work offers insight into how a creative, well- educated young man perceived the war from behind a camera's viewfinder.

William Robinson Wilson Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

More Resources

William Robinson Wilson Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML
View 8 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View 13 images in sequence.
[ William Wilson. Memoir, "G.I.'s in Europe and North Africa: Waiting for World War II." ]
View 105 images in sequence.
[ William R. Wilson, [typescript memoir that includes some photocopied images] ]

About this Item

Title

  • William Robinson Wilson Collection

Names

  • U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar
  • Lugar, Richard
  • Stephanie C. Palmadesso
  • Ordner, Larry
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Wilson, William Robinson

State of Birth

  • IA

Home State

  • IN

Headings

  • -  Wilson, William Robinson
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Unit C3, 162nd Signal Company, Photographic Company, Army Pictorial Service
    • Location of Service: North Africa; Sicily, Italy
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 10/18/2005)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 10/1998)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 06/07/2002)
  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [10 items] -- (collected 1941 - 2002)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- (collected 2002)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 06/07/2002)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 02/13/2007)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of photograph (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/1182

Cite as

  • William Robinson Wilson Collection (AFC/2001/001/1182), 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:

U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar, Richard Lugar, Stephanie C. Palmadesso, Larry Ordner, National Court Reporters Association, and William Robinson Wilson. William Robinson Wilson Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01182/.

APA citation style:

U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar, Lugar, R., Stephanie C. Palmadesso, Ordner, L., National Court Reporters Association & Wilson, W. R. (1941) William Robinson Wilson Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01182/.

MLA citation style:

U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar, et al. William Robinson Wilson Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01182/>.