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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Unit of Service: 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Division
  • Location of Service: Pacific Theater; Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands)
  • Highest Rank: Platoon Sergeant

View full service history

"They never found any part of that [U.S] patrol, or any parts of bodies or anything else." (Video Interview, 7:37)

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, 19-year-old Ned Steele joined the Marines the very next day, along with thousands of other willing patriotic men. Steele served in many dangerous campaigns, one of the most dangerous-as well as physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting--was Guadalcanal. The Japanese were good soldiers who knew how to wear down the Americans. One of their tactics was not to let any American soldiers get any sleep. Planes soared over American positions at all hours of the night dropping bombs or small units of soldiers attacked during the early morning hours. Steele may have been on Guadalcanal for 150 days, but he says it felt like he was there for 1500 nights.

About this Item

Title

  • Ned C. Steele Collection

Names

  • Collins, Denver
  • Steele, Ned C.
  • Rhay, Gary
  • Timeless Media Group

State of Birth

  • CA

Home State

  • OR

Headings

  • -  Steele, Ned C.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- 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: 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st Division
    • Location of Service: Pacific Theater; Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands)
    • Highest Rank: Platoon Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1945
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: VHS [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 06/19/2003)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/8368

Cite as

  • Ned C. Steele Collection (AFC/2001/001/8368), 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, Ned C Steele, Gary Rhay, and Timeless Media Group. Ned C. Steele Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08368/.

APA citation style:

Collins, D., Steele, N. C., Rhay, G. & Timeless Media Group. (1941) Ned C. Steele Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08368/.

MLA citation style:

Collins, Denver, et al. Ned C. Steele Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08368/>.