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Robert Rudolph, detail from video

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Service Unit/Ship: Company M, 157th Regiment, 45th Division
  • Location of Service: Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Saint Louis, Missouri; Camp Butner, North Carolina; Africa; Sicily; France; Anzio, Italy
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/5747

View full service history

"We were just down in that [foxhole], and we stayed for almost four months." (Video Interview, 5:20)

Robert Rudolph spent the winter months of early 1944 in a foxhole at Anzio, getting out only at night to retrieve supplies. The Allies did not make an advance on the Anzio beachhead until May 23, 1944, and though, as Rudolph says, being able to make some semblance of progress was a relief after the tedium of the foxhole, he was wounded in action the very next day and evacuated to Naples. Rudolph is candid about his fears as a young soldier, and about the stress of waiting nearly four months in a hole while the Germans kept the Allies pinned down. After recuperating from his wounding at Anzio, Rudolph would go on to see service in France through the end of the war.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Robert H. Rudolph Collection

Names

  • Rudolph, Robert H.
  • Swanson, Gary W.
  • Babcock, Robert O.
  • Americans Remembered, Inc.

Home State

  • Missouri

Headings

  • -  Rudolph, Robert H.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Prisoner of War -- United States

Form

  • DVD

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: Army
    • Service Unit/Ship: Company M, 157th Regiment, 45th Division
    • Location of Service: Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; Saint Louis, Missouri; Camp Butner, North Carolina; Africa; Sicily; France; Anzio, Italy
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1945
    • Prisoner of War: Yes
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a machine gunner.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-04-09; 1999-12-31)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/5747

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/[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:

Rudolph, Robert H, Gary W Swanson, Robert O Babcock, and Inc Americans Remembered. Robert H. Rudolph Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05747/.

APA citation style:

Rudolph, R. H., Swanson, G. W., Babcock, R. O. & Americans Remembered, I. (1943) Robert H. Rudolph Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05747/.

MLA citation style:

Rudolph, Robert H, et al. Robert H. Rudolph Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05747/>.