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Bill Simpson

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Location of Service: Sicily, Italy; Normandy, France; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); North Africa; Iwo Jima
  • Highest Rank: Seaman Second Class
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/3239

View full service history

"When we heard the news everyone just went crazy." (letter to his family, August 19, 1945)

As a 72nd birthday present to his father, Stuart Simpson assembled Witness to War, a scrapbook of Bill's exploits during World War II as a seaman aboard the U.S.S. Thurston, a troop transport. The ship saw service in both the Atlantic and Pacific, most meaningfully in the English Channel on June 6, 1944, as it carried troops and vehicles for the Normandy Invasion. Among the items in the Simpson scrapbook are detailed pages of instructions for the Thurston's activities for D-Day, letters Bill wrote home to his family, and an account of a rare moment when the crew of the Thurston actually fired on another vessel - nearly two months after V-J Day.

View 106 images in sequence.
[ Memoir/scrapbook ]

About this Item

Title

  • James William Simpson Collection

Names

  • Simpson, James William
  • Simpson, Stuart

State of Birth

  • KY

Home State

  • KY

Headings

  • -  Simpson, James William
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Form

  • Mixed (Multiple types of manuscripts)

Extent

  • 1 item

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Location of Service: Sicily, Italy; Normandy, France; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); North Africa; Iwo Jima
    • Highest Rank: Seaman Second Class
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran was a signalman.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Mixed (Multiple types of manuscripts) [1 item] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 08/2001)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/3239

Cite as

  • James William Simpson Collection (AFC/2001/001/3239), 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:

Simpson, James William, and Stuart Simpson. James William Simpson Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.03239/.

APA citation style:

Simpson, J. W. & Simpson, S. (1942) James William Simpson Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.03239/.

MLA citation style:

Simpson, James William, and Stuart Simpson. James William Simpson Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.03239/>.