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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • Service History Note: The veteran was a POW for 15 months.
  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
  • Unit of Service: 48th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force; 15th Air Force
  • Location of Service: Mediterranean Sea; European Theater
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant

View full service history

"I somersaulted backwards, got out of my parachute harness in a couple of seconds, and stood up with my back to several dozen German soldiers... I hated to face the reality that I was about to undergo a drastic change in my 'life style.'" Memoirs, Speech at Montgomery, p. 2

Flying in support of the invasion at Anzio, Nathaniel Raley was shot down by ground fire. Captured by the Germans, he wound up at Stalag Luft I, populated entirely by fliers from several Allied air forces. He wryly describes his 15 months in captivity as "a learning experience." Among the lessons: how to tell when an interrogator is lying to get information and the price a prisoner pays for touching the perimeter wire fence in a stalag.

Transcript: XML

More Resources

Transcript: XML
View 4 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View 15 images in sequence.
[ Memoirs: "P-38 Pilot" ]

About this Item

Title

  • Nathaniel G. Raley Collection

Names

  • Veterans Memorial Museum
  • Raley, Nathaniel G.
  • Adams, Rebekah
  • Poniatowski, Stephen

State of Birth

  • AL

Home State

  • AL

Headings

  • -  Raley, Nathaniel G.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.
  • -  Prisoner of War -- United States

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Service History Note: The veteran was a POW for 15 months.
    • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
    • Unit of Service: 48th Fighter Squadron, 14th Fighter Group, 12th Air Force; 15th Air Force
    • Location of Service: Mediterranean Sea; European Theater
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Prisoner of War: Yes
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- (collected 08/06/1999)
  • Video: MiniDV [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 02/02/2002)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [4 items] -- Photograph (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 05/31/2004)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [2 items] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 03/09/2002)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/449

Cite as

  • Nathaniel G. Raley Collection (AFC/2001/001/449), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

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:

Veterans Memorial Museum, Nathaniel G Raley, Rebekah Adams, and Stephen Poniatowski. Nathaniel G. Raley Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00449/.

APA citation style:

Veterans Memorial Museum, Raley, N. G., Adams, R. & Poniatowski, S. (1942) Nathaniel G. Raley Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00449/.

MLA citation style:

Veterans Memorial Museum, et al. Nathaniel G. Raley Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00449/>.