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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Navy; Air Force
  • Unit of Service: Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees)
  • Location of Service: Aleutian Islands (Alaska); England
  • Highest Rank: Seaman First Class

View full service history

"The weather was atrocious." (Audio interview, 25:28)

For Seaman First Class Clifton Davis, working with the 68th Naval Construction Battalion, the weather in the Aleutians was not only physically uncomfortable and potentially life-threatening--it also complicated the Seabees' construction efforts. In his interview, he discusses dealing with the swampy terrain on Attu, as well as huge storms known as "williwaws," which he describes as "a blizzard multiplied by ten." The 138 original photographs in his collection depict the snowy conditions and mountainous terrain on Attu, as well as his comrades goofing for the camera.

Clifton Davis Collection
Interview / Recording

More Resources

View 138 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View 33 images in sequence.
[ History of the 68th Naval Construction Battalion ]
View 3 images in sequence.
[ Typewritten "Extraction of Diary" ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Handdrawn map of the island of Attu, Aleutian Islands, Alaska ]

About this Item

Title

  • Clifton Davis Collection

Names

  • Lugar, Richard
  • U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar
  • Huffman, Emmy
  • Davis, Clifton

State of Birth

  • OH

Home State

  • OH

Headings

  • -  Davis, Clifton
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Unit of Service: Naval Construction Battalion (Seabees)
    • Location of Service: Aleutian Islands (Alaska)
    • Highest Rank: Seaman First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Air Force
    • Location of Service: England
    • Dates of Service: 1951-1952
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran 's biographical form notes that he left the Air Force in 1952 due to "hardship."

Materials

  • Manuscript: Printed matter [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [138 items] -- Photograph (collected 1944 - [2002])
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected [2002])
  • Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Maps [3 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Diaries and journals [1 item] -- (collected 1943)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [0 item] -- Reference copy (collected 11/02/2006)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/1203

Cite as

  • Clifton Davis Collection (AFC/2001/001/1203), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image

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:

Lugar, Richard, U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar, Emmy Huffman, and Clifton Davis. Clifton Davis Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01203/.

APA citation style:

Lugar, R., U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar, Huffman, E. & Davis, C. (1942) Clifton Davis Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01203/.

MLA citation style:

Lugar, Richard, et al. Clifton Davis Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01203/>.