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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: L Company, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Camp Wheeler, Georgia; Normandy, France; Saint-Lô, France; Paris, France; Germany
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant

View full service history

"I sometimes felt that was the bullet that had my name on it." (Interview)

After attending a military high school and enrolling in ROTC at the University of Wisconsin, Burton Ruby was eager to enlist in the service in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack. But the military didn't seem to be interested in him, so he married and began a family, only to be drafted in 1943. As a sergeant with an infantry regiment, Ruby and his men were on Utah Beach on June 7, when there were still plenty of bullets to dodge. They made it inland about one mile that first day, but there were many more obstacles to overcome, including frostbite that winter in the Hurtgen Forest.

Burton Ruby Collection
Interview / Recording

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About this Item

Title

  • Burton Ruby Collection

Names

  • Sanders, Timothy
  • Lugar, Richard
  • Ruby, Burton
  • U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar

State of Birth

  • IL

Home State

  • IN

Headings

  • -  Ruby, Burton
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

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: L Company, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Camp Wheeler, Georgia; Normandy, France; Saint-Lô, France; Paris, France; Germany
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1945
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [0 item] -- Reference copy (collected 11/21/2005)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 08/15/2002)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [2 items] -- Photograph (collected [2002])

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/3006

Cite as

  • Burton Ruby Collection (AFC/2001/001/3006), 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:

Sanders, Timothy, Richard Lugar, Burton Ruby, and U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar. Burton Ruby Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.03006/.

APA citation style:

Sanders, T., Lugar, R., Ruby, B. & U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar. (1943) Burton Ruby Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.03006/.

MLA citation style:

Sanders, Timothy, et al. Burton Ruby Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.03006/>.