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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Fort Riley, Kansas; Korea
  • Highest Rank: Corporal

View full service history

From the time he was drafted in the summer of 1952, 20 year-old Edward Pierce kept up a regular, well-written correspondence with his parents back home in Calumet City, Illinois. Writing almost every day, he penned his letters from boot camp, from the ship taking him to Korea, and finally from the front lines of the war with North Korea. Pierce's letters provide a wealth of detail about the life of the ordinary American soldier in Korea. The letters are also preoccupied by the drudgery of Army life and the weather, which nearly every soldier who served in Korea described as the coldest they had ever experienced in their lives.

Edward L. Pierce Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

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About this Item

Title

  • Edward L. Pierce Collection

Names

  • Montgomery, Arlene
  • Rebecca Allen
  • Pierce, Edward L.
  • Daughters of the American Revolution, Captain Nathan Watkins Chapter
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)

State of Birth

  • IL

Home State

  • AR

Headings

  • -  Pierce, Edward L.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 48th Field Artillery Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Fort Riley, Kansas; Korea
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1952-1954
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 02/06/1996)
  • Audio: Microcassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 01/15/2003)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [1 item] -- (collected 1952 - 1954)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [15 items] -- Photograph (collected 1952 - 1954)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 8/20/2009)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2009)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/8025

Cite as

  • Edward L. Pierce Collection (AFC/2001/001/8025), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • online text

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:

Montgomery, Arlene, Rebecca Allen, Edward L Pierce, Captain Nathan Watkins Chapter Daughters Of The American Revolution, and National Court Reporters Association. Edward L. Pierce Collection. 1952. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08025/.

APA citation style:

Montgomery, A., Rebecca Allen, Pierce, E. L., Daughters Of The American Revolution, C. N. W. C. & National Court Reporters Association. (1952) Edward L. Pierce Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08025/.

MLA citation style:

Montgomery, Arlene, et al. Edward L. Pierce Collection. 1952. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08025/>.