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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: Intelligence & Reconnaissance Platoon, 2nd Battalion, Blue Combat Team, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) (Merrill's Marauders)
  • Location of Service: Trinidad; China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater; Fort Knox, Kentucky
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant

View full service history

"And when General Merrill told General Tanaka how many men he had in the field, he [Tanaka] was absolutely dumbstruck. (Audio Interview, Part 1, 21:42)

Determined to serve his country during World War II, Herbert Clofine wouldn't let a 4-F deferment stop him. He asked to be a voluntary draftee. But after he trained to be a radio operator, he found himself stuck in the States monitoring the coastline for submarines. He answered a call for an unspecified dangerous mission and wound up in Bombay, India, training for what would be know as Merrill's Marauders, the legendary fighting unit that bedeviled the Japanese with guerrilla tactics, despite being vastly outnumbered. Clofine was radioman with the Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon that worked ahead of the Mauraders; a member of his team, Robert Landis, was the first American World War II casualty in Asia.

Herbert Clofine Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

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Herbert Clofine Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML
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About this Item

Title

  • Herbert Clofine Collection

Names

  • Merrill's Marauders Association
  • Lisa M. Dove
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Chason, Christy
  • Clofine, Herbert
  • Piazza, Philip

State of Birth

  • PA

Home State

  • PA

Headings

  • -  Clofine, Herbert
  • -  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: Intelligence & Reconnaissance Platoon, 2nd Battalion, Blue Combat Team, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) (Merrill's Marauders)
    • Location of Service: Trinidad; China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater; Fort Knox, Kentucky
    • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1946
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 08/27/2005)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [1 item] -- Portrait (collected unknown)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 08/27/2005)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 03/10/2008)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 03/10/2008)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/29945

Cite as

  • Herbert Clofine Collection (AFC/2001/001/29945), 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:

Merrill'S Marauders Association, Lisa M. Dove, National Court Reporters Association, Christy Chason, Herbert Clofine, and Philip Piazza. Herbert Clofine Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.29945/.

APA citation style:

Merrill'S Marauders Association, Lisa M. Dove, National Court Reporters Association, Chason, C., Clofine, H. & Piazza, P. (1942) Herbert Clofine Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.29945/.

MLA citation style:

Merrill'S Marauders Association, et al. Herbert Clofine Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.29945/>.