Top of page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 60th Coast Artillery
  • Location of Service: Philippines; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 3

View full service history

"I'm probably the only G.I. in the U.S. Army who sunk a warship single handedly." (Video Interview, 17:57)

John Stensby held out as long as he could from Japanese capture on the Philippines, then made an art form of sabotage whenever his captors tried to use him for slave labor. His incompetent welding job on a Japanese warship created a launch that was an extreme embarrassment for the Japanese Navy. He had to steel himself when buddy after buddy dropped by the wayside, in prison camps, on the hell ships that took POWs off to Japan and Manchuria, and in factories and mines.

Transcript: XML

More Resources

Transcript: XML
View Enlarged Image
[ Photo Album ]
View Enlarged Image
[ "Japanese Order Posted in POW Camps [1944]" ]
View 6 images in sequence.
[ Memoir, "The Survivors." ]
View 3 images in sequence.
[ Letter from his mother [August 28, 194?] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ "Page Two, 29th Depot Daily Times [25 September 1945] U.S.-Jap Policy." ]

Show more resources (3)

View Enlarged Image
[ News article by Stenby for unspecified newspaper ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Menu from the transport "Hugh L. Scott" [November 15, 1941] ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ News article & photo from undocumented source depicting Stenby and other POWs of the Japanese ]

About this Item

Title

  • John L. Stensby, Sr. Collection

Names

  • Veterans Memorial Museum
  • Stensby Sr., John L.
  • Poniatowski, Stephen
  • Deborah Cohen-Rojas
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Adams, Rebekah

State of Birth

  • WI

Headings

  • -  Stensby Sr., John L.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  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

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 60th Coast Artillery
    • Location of Service: Philippines; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Chief Warrant Officer 3
    • Dates of Service: 1939-1960
    • Prisoner of War: Yes
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as part of the Corregidor defenses and became a Japanese POW.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Clippings [8 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1941 - 1945)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [1 item] -- Handwritten document (collected 11/22/1945)
  • Video: MiniDV [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 03/16/2002)
  • Manuscript: Maps [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [4 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942 - 1945)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 03/16/2002)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/454

Cite as

  • John L. Stensby, Sr. Collection (AFC/2001/001/454), 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, John L Stensby Sr, Stephen Poniatowski, Deborah Cohen-Rojas, National Court Reporters Association, and Rebekah Adams. John L. Stensby, Sr. Collection. 1939. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00454/.

APA citation style:

Veterans Memorial Museum, Stensby Sr, J. L., Poniatowski, S., Deborah Cohen-Rojas, National Court Reporters Association & Adams, R. (1939) John L. Stensby, Sr. Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00454/.

MLA citation style:

Veterans Memorial Museum, et al. John L. Stensby, Sr. Collection. 1939. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.00454/>.