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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: C Company, 192nd Tank Battalion
  • Location of Service: Fort Knox, Kentucky; Clark Field, Philippines; Mukden, China; Manchuria, China; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/5549

View full service history

"We just begin to see it, it was every man for himself...Boy that was hard. You just turn your eyes and move on...knowing he's going to die that night." (Audio Interview, 27:48, Part I)

As an idealistic 21-year old from Mansfield, Ohio, who enlisted in the Army two years after the Second World War broke out in Europe, Albert Allen just wanted to do what everyone else at the time was doing: help make the world a better place. What he didn't know was that he would grow as an individual, learning new things about himself and becoming a new person. The "new" Albert Allen was stationed at an airfield in Bataan when U.S. forces surrendered; he was strong enough and able to survive imprisonment in Bataan, the Bataan Death March, and imprisonment in Manchuria as well. His story reveals the brutality of the Japanese--the beatings, the scare tactics, the lack of food, and poor sanitary conditions-all of it reflecting the lack of respect they had for the American soldiers.

Albert L. Allen Collection
Interview / Recording

More Resources

Albert L. Allen Collection
Interview / Recording

Albert L. Allen Collection
Interview / Recording

Albert L. Allen Collection
Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Albert L. Allen Collection

Names

  • Legacies: Stories from the Second World War
  • Allen, Albert L.
  • Swope, Thomas A.

Home State

  • Ohio

Headings

  • -  Allen, Albert L.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Prisoner of War -- United States

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: C Company, 192nd Tank Battalion
    • Location of Service: Fort Knox, Kentucky; Clark Field, Philippines; Mukden, China; Manchuria, China; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1946
    • Prisoner of War: Yes
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran attained the rank of lieutenant colonel serving in the Army Reserves.

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-04-12)
  • Audio: CD [ item] -- Reference copy (collected 2003-04-12; 2006-03-17)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/5549

Cite as

  • Albert L. Allen Collection (AFC/2001/001/5549), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio

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/[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:

Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, Albert L Allen, and Thomas A Swope. Albert L. Allen Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05549/.

APA citation style:

Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, Allen, A. L. & Swope, T. A. (1941) Albert L. Allen Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05549/.

MLA citation style:

Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, Albert L Allen, and Thomas A Swope. Albert L. Allen Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05549/>.