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The U.S.S. Enterprise CV-6 at Pearl Harbor in the late afternoon under a threatening sky; the sailor in the foreground is Robert D. Anderson, PhoM 2/C [September 24, 1945]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Service Unit/Ship: USS Enterprise (CV 6)
  • Location of Service: Traverse City, Michigan; Oklahoma; Bougainville Island (Solomon Islands); San Diego, California; Hawaii; Leyte Island (Philippines); Luzon (Philippines); Formosa; China; Japan; Iwo Jima; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Ulithi (Caroline Islands)
  • Highest Rank: Photographer's Mate First Class
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/10509

View full service history

"Barr, you go down and get a close-up of that bomb."

Photographer William Barr enlisted in the Navy in 1942 after a friend advised him that he could ply his profession and serve his country during World War II. Barr's studio became the flight deck of the aircraft carrier Enterprise, where he took pictures of crippled planes coming in for landings and Japanese attacks on his and other ships. His ship was nicknamed the Lucky Enterprise for its ability to survive so many kamikazes and keep right on sailing. While Barr was aboard, he saw seven such attacks and one other close shave, when a Japanese bomber snuck into the formation of landing U.S. craft. The enemy pilot dropped his bomb, but it only rolled to a stop on the deck, and that was when Barr got the memorable order to snap some pictures of the unexploded ordnance.

William Thomas Barr Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • William Thomas Barr Collection

Names

  • Barr, William Thomas
  • Ainsley, Sally

Home State

  • Michigan

Headings

  • -  Barr, William Thomas
  • -  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
    • Service Unit/Ship: USS Enterprise (CV 6)
    • Location of Service: Traverse City, Michigan; Oklahoma; Bougainville Island (Solomon Islands); San Diego, California; Hawaii; Leyte Island (Philippines); Luzon (Philippines); Formosa; China; Japan; Iwo Jima; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Ulithi (Caroline Islands)
    • Highest Rank: Photographer's Mate First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [2 items] -- Reference copy (collected 2005-09-28; 2005-09-28)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2005-10-05; 2005-10-05)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2005-10-05)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [15 items] -- Photographs (collected 1945-1946)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2002-09-24)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/10509

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/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), 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:

Barr, William Thomas, and Sally Ainsley. William Thomas Barr Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10509/.

APA citation style:

Barr, W. T. & Ainsley, S. (1942) William Thomas Barr Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10509/.

MLA citation style:

Barr, William Thomas, and Sally Ainsley. William Thomas Barr Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10509/>.