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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Air Force
  • Location of Service: Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas; Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi; Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; Oxnard Air Base, California; Iceland; Bunker Hill Air Base, Indiana; Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; Turner Air Force Base, Georgia; Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina; Kadena Air Base, Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Island); Korat Air Base, Thailand; England Air Force Base in Louisiana; Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: Colonel

View full service history

"It's very important to exercise your mind in prison." (Video Interview)

When Roger Ingvalson was shot down over North Vietnam on May 28, 1968, he was already a veteran pilot, with nearly twenty years in the Air Force and over 100 missions flown in Vietnam. He spent his 40th birthday in captivity and wound up at the notorious Hanoi Hilton. Ingvalson kept his mind busy by studying insects and by communicating with his fellow prisoners through special codes. And he kept his North Vietnamese captors at bay by feeding them false information. He attributes his ability to survive five years of deprivation and isolation to his religious faith.

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About this Item

Title

  • Roger Dean Ingvalson Collection

Names

  • WRCB-TV Channel 3
  • Bowen, Sarah
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Nancy Bond Rowland
  • Ingvalson, Roger Dean
  • Willie, Michael

State of Birth

  • MN

Home State

  • TN

Headings

  • -  Ingvalson, Roger Dean
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force.
  • -  Prisoner of War -- United States

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Air Force
    • Location of Service: Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas; Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi; Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; Oxnard Air Base, California; Iceland; Bunker Hill Air Base, Indiana; Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; Turner Air Force Base, Georgia; Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina; Kadena Air Base, Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Island); Korat Air Base, Thailand; England Air Force Base in Louisiana; Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: Colonel
    • Dates of Service: 1950-1976
    • Prisoner of War: Yes
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran notes that he was held as a prisoner of war (POW) in Vietnam.

Materials

  • Video: Betacam SP [3 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 06/25/2003)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 06/25/2003)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/9773

Cite as

  • Roger Dean Ingvalson Collection (AFC/2001/001/9773), 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:

Wrcb-Tv Channel 3, Sarah Bowen, National Court Reporters Association, Nancy Bond Rowland, Roger Dean Ingvalson, and Michael Willie. Roger Dean Ingvalson Collection. 1950. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09773/.

APA citation style:

Wrcb-Tv Channel 3, Bowen, S., National Court Reporters Association, Nancy Bond Rowland, Ingvalson, R. D. & Willie, M. (1950) Roger Dean Ingvalson Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09773/.

MLA citation style:

Wrcb-Tv Channel 3, et al. Roger Dean Ingvalson Collection. 1950. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09773/>.