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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky; Korea
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant

View full service history

"...my bowels twisted me green..."

James Walsh survived numbing cold, contaminated water, and nauseating sights of battles during the missions he fought with the 25th Infantry in Korea. In one chapter of his memoir, titled Battle for the Outpost, he describes a hillside of dead Chinese soldiers "lying about the slopes in weird, contorted poses, wretched legs hanging from tissue, clots of blood, vomit, and mucus." He shuddered to see rats running from corpse to corpse chewing at the faces. His 73 page memoir, From the Seminary to Korea's Front Line: 1951-1952, is a gripping and horrifying account of his observations and reactions to a little-known, barely-understood war.

James F. Walsh Collection
Interview / Recording

More Resources

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[ Downloadable pdf of veteran's memoir, "A GI Machine Gunner - From the Seminary to Korea's Front Line 1951-1952" ]
View 64 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View 75 images in sequence.
[ Memoirs: "A GI Machine Gunner - From the Seminary to Korea's Front Line 1951-1952" ]
View 5 images in sequence.
[ Photocopy of a letter from Cpl. Bob McGee to James Walsh [7/22/1952] ]
View 5 images in sequence.
[ Photocopy of a letter from P.F.C. Hildebrandt to James Walsh [7/20/1952] ]
View 4 images in sequence.
[ Photocopy of a letter from P.F.C. Lawrence O. Hakes to James Walsh [7/20/1952] ]

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View 3 images in sequence.
[ Photocopy of a letter from Wilbur Davidson to James Walsh [12/18/1952] ]
View 3 images in sequence.
[ Photocopy of letter from Ronald J. Smith to James Walsh [1/7/1954] ]

About this Item

Title

  • James F. Walsh Collection

Names

  • Walsh, James F.
  • Walsh, James

State of Birth

  • IL

Home State

  • IN

Headings

  • -  Walsh, James F.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky; Korea
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1951-1952
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [67 items] -- Photograph (collected 1951 - 1952)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2002)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [5 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1952 - 1954)
  • Audio: DAT [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 09/09/2003)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/1939

Cite as

  • James F. Walsh Collection (AFC/2001/001/1939), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • pdf

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:

Walsh, James F, and James Walsh. James F. Walsh Collection. 1951. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01939/.

APA citation style:

Walsh, J. F. & Walsh, J. (1951) James F. Walsh Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01939/.

MLA citation style:

Walsh, James F, and James Walsh. James F. Walsh Collection. 1951. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.01939/>.