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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975; World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Location of Service: United States; Southeast Asia; United States; European Theater
  • Highest Rank: Major

View full service history

"He had been told that the Negroes coming over in the Army had been let out of cages and they had tails, and he wanted to satisfy his curiosity." (Video Interview, 24:50)

When Pearle Mack tried to enlist on December 8, 1941 and was rebuffed by a racist recruiter, that didn't stop him from launching an Army career that took him through three wars. Whether providing logistical support for Patton in World War II, running a transportation outfit in the frozen wastes of Korea, or serving as an intelligence officer in Vietnam, Mack kept his cool in the face of further insults and rose through the ranks. What he learned in his last tour of wartime duty was that the herbicide Agent Orange doesn't discriminate among soldiers.

More Resources

View 7 images in sequence.
[ Handwritten interview notes ]

About this Item

Title

  • Pearle W. Mack, Jr. Collection

Names

  • Mack Jr., Pearle W.
  • Rhay, Gary
  • Timeless Media Group
  • Collins, Denver

State of Birth

  • KS

Home State

  • WA

Headings

  • -  Mack Jr., Pearle W.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Location of Service: United States; European Theater
    • Highest Rank: Major
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1973
    • Military Status: Veteran

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1973
    • Military Status: Veteran

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Location of Service: United States; Southeast Asia
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: VHS [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 05/21/2003)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- Handwritten document (collected unknown)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected 05/21/2003)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/5764

Cite as

  • Pearle W. Mack, Jr. Collection (AFC/2001/001/5764), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

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:

Mack Jr., Pearle W, Gary Rhay, Timeless Media Group, and Denver Collins. Pearle W. Mack, Jr. Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05764/.

APA citation style:

Mack Jr, P. W., Rhay, G., Timeless Media Group & Collins, D. (1942) Pearle W. Mack, Jr. Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05764/.

MLA citation style:

Mack Jr., Pearle W, et al. Pearle W. Mack, Jr. Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.05764/>.