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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Unit of Service: 1st Corps Medium Tank Battalion; 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division
  • Location of Service: Tarawa Atoll (Gilbert Islands); Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Korea
  • Highest Rank: Master Sergeant

View full service history

"They rescued the Jap pilot and he spoke English. They asked him what he thought of our defenses. He says, 'Your Navy gunfire stinks, but your pilots are damned good.'" (Video Interview, 49:12)

Tanks aren't often associated with combat in the Pacific Theater of World War II, so Charles Mason's detailed memories of commanding a tank (named Cecilia) during several island invasions are important to our understandings of the mechanics of those campaigns. Just getting a tank off a landing craft and onto a beach took immense skill and fortitude. On Saipan, Mason watched as a Marine pilot who had just set down his plane immediately took off again to shoot down a harassing Japanese plane—whose rescued pilot gave a succinct assessment of American defense.

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About this Item

Title

  • Charles D. Mason Collection

Names

  • Collins, Denver
  • Mason, Charles D.
  • Timeless Media Group
  • Rhay, Gary

State of Birth

  • MO

Home State

  • OR

Headings

  • -  Mason, Charles D.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Unit of Service: 1st Corps Medium Tank Battalion; 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division
    • Location of Service: Tarawa Atoll (Gilbert Islands); Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands)
    • Highest Rank: Master Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1946
    • Military Status: Veteran

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Location of Service: Korea
    • Dates of Service: 1948-1964
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: VHS [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 04/09/2003)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/5431

Cite as

  • Charles D. Mason Collection (AFC/2001/001/5431), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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:

Collins, Denver, Charles D Mason, Timeless Media Group, and Gary Rhay. Charles D. Mason Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05431/.

APA citation style:

Collins, D., Mason, C. D., Timeless Media Group & Rhay, G. (1942) Charles D. Mason Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05431/.

MLA citation style:

Collins, Denver, et al. Charles D. Mason Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05431/>.