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Ben N. Snyder, Sydney, Australia [detail]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
  • Unit of Service: 867th Bomb Squadron, 494th Bomb Group, 7th Air Force
  • Location of Service: Ellington Field, Texas; Big Spring, Texas; Wendover Field, Utah; Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona; Mountain Home, Idaho; Lincoln, Nebraska; Hickham Field, Oahu; Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii; Anguar Island, Palau
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/2353

View full service history

"...I'm wondering if you will find me changed..."

Ben M. Snyder, bombardier in the Pacific Theater, kept a journal from April 1943 to August 1945. His articulate, exquisitely sensitive account of war is brimming with detail. We are transported to the wartime world when he speaks of the unrelenting strain of training, the excitement of anticipating entertainment by Bob Hope, and his intense feelings about the Roosevelt/Dewey race for election. No one expresses more eloquently the meaning of friends and family to a combat flyer.

View 12 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

View 111 images in sequence.
[ Memoirs and Letters: "Reports to the Homefront" ]
View 90 images in sequence.
[ Unpublished compilation of letters from Ben Snyder to family and friends ]

About this Item

Title

  • Ben M. Snyder Collection

Names

  • Snyder, Ben M.
  • Preston, Marcia
  • Bloomfield Township Public Library

State of Birth

  • PA

Home State

  • ME

Headings

  • -  Snyder, Ben M.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
    • Unit of Service: 867th Bomb Squadron, 494th Bomb Group, 7th Air Force
    • Location of Service: Ellington Field, Texas; Big Spring, Texas; Wendover Field, Utah; Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona; Mountain Home, Idaho; Lincoln, Nebraska; Hickham Field, Oahu; Barking Sands, Kauai, Hawaii; Anguar Island, Palau
    • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1945
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Diaries and journals [1 item] -- (collected 1943 - 1945)
  • Photograph: Photocopy of Photographic Print [12 items] -- (collected 1944 - 1945)
  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [26 items] -- (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2003)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Diaries and journals [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/2353

Cite as

  • Ben M. Snyder Collection (AFC/2001/001/2353), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • 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/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), 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:

Snyder, Ben M, Marcia Preston, and Bloomfield Township Public Library. Ben M. Snyder Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02353/.

APA citation style:

Snyder, B. M., Preston, M. & Bloomfield Township Public Library. (1943) Ben M. Snyder Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02353/.

MLA citation style:

Snyder, Ben M, Marcia Preston, and Bloomfield Township Public Library. Ben M. Snyder Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02353/>.