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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Unit of Service: Naval Armed Guard; Sea Devil (troop ship); Prowess (Liberty ship)
  • Location of Service: Farragut, Idaho; San Diego, California; Australia; New Guinea; Calcutta, India; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Boatswain's Mate Second Class

View full service history

"We'd get milk when we'd get back to the States, and fresh bread, which is exciting. The bread at sea on the ships was always full of the weevils." (Audio Interview, Part II - 1:19)

Growing up in Seattle in the 1930s, Howard Gilbert developed a fascination with the water and ships. Enlisting in the Navy once the U.S. entered World War II was almost a foregone conclusion. He served on a troop ship and Liberty ship in both Pacific and Atlantic. Being on the water didn't remove him from action or its consequences: he saw two ships in his convoy sunk by a German submarine, and his troop ship took on wounded from the battle for New Guinea.

Howard Catton Gilbert Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

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Howard Catton Gilbert Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML
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About this Item

Title

  • Howard Catton Gilbert Collection

Names

  • Hammond, Janet
  • Heather Rutler
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Reed, Helen
  • Gilbert, Howard Catton
  • Park County Veterans History Project

State of Birth

  • WA

Home State

  • WA

Headings

  • -  Gilbert, Howard Catton
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Unit of Service: Naval Armed Guard; Sea Devil (troop ship); Prowess (Liberty ship)
    • Location of Service: Farragut, Idaho; San Diego, California; Australia; New Guinea; Calcutta, India; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Boatswain's Mate Second Class
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [4 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943 - 2002)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 07/11/2002)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 3/22/2006)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 9/30/2006)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 9/30/2006)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/9602

Cite as

  • Howard Catton Gilbert Collection (AFC/2001/001/9602), 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:

Hammond, Janet, Heather Rutler, National Court Reporters Association, Helen Reed, Howard Catton Gilbert, and Park County Veterans History Project. Howard Catton Gilbert Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09602/.

APA citation style:

Hammond, J., Heather Rutler, National Court Reporters Association, Reed, H., Gilbert, H. C. & Park County Veterans History Project. (1943) Howard Catton Gilbert Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09602/.

MLA citation style:

Hammond, Janet, et al. Howard Catton Gilbert Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09602/>.