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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Company B, 194th Tank Battalion
  • Location of Service: St. Joseph, Missouri; Fort Lewis, Washington; Philippines
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant

View full service history

"My mental attitude was better than other POWs who were sick with malaria and dysentery." (Video Interview)

Army Sergeant William Allen had a front-row seat for America's entry into World War II. He was stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines when Japanese forces attacked at the same time they were hitting Pearl Harbor. Four months later, U.S. forces on the islands had to surrender to the Japanese, and Allen joined thousands of GIs and Filipinos on the Bataan Death March. Miraculously avoiding illness, Allen kept his spirits up, volunteering for work details in order to get better rations. He survived transport to Japan in one of the notorious hell ships, and war's end found him working in railroad yards north of Tokyo.

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About this Item

Title

  • William S. Allen Collection

Names

  • Americans Remembered, Inc.
  • Allen, William S.
  • Kate Farrish
  • Swanson, Gary
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Babcock, Robert

State of Birth

  • MO

Home State

  • MO

Headings

  • -  Allen, William S.
  • -  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: Company B, 194th Tank Battalion
    • Location of Service: St. Joseph, Missouri; Fort Lewis, Washington; Philippines
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1946
    • Prisoner of War: Yes
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran is a Bataan Death March survivor.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 05/20/2003)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 03/27/2012)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/9214

Cite as

  • William S. Allen Collection (AFC/2001/001/9214), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • 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:

Americans Remembered, Inc, William S Allen, Kate Farrish, Gary Swanson, National Court Reporters Association, and Robert Babcock. William S. Allen Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09214/.

APA citation style:

Americans Remembered, I., Allen, W. S., Kate Farrish, Swanson, G., National Court Reporters Association & Babcock, R. (1941) William S. Allen Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09214/.

MLA citation style:

Americans Remembered, Inc, et al. William S. Allen Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09214/>.