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John Carson at time of service

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Service Unit/Ship: 410th Field Artillery Group; 731st Field Artillery Battalion
  • Location of Service: Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Camp Butner, North Carolina; England; France; European Theater; Germany; Czechoslovakia
  • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/108853

View full service history

"Me, I got a new home every durned night! But - the faster we move, the sooner we do get home." (V-Mail to mother and father, November 22, 1944)

First Lieutenant John Carson was 28 years old and working in public relations in New York City when he enlisted in the Army Reserve in March 1941. Recalled to active duty in March 1942, he completed Officer Candidates School and went on to serve as a communications officer in field artillery units within General George Patton's Third Army in Europe. His letters home to his parents provide hints at Third Army's rapid pace of advance across northern Europe, and how its personnel learned to embrace the accompanying hardships with humor and fortitude. The correspondence in his collection begins chronologically with his arrival in England, and traces his movements across France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, and even into Czechoslovakia, where he was offered a job with a glassworks manufacturer after the war.

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [8/24/1944] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [8/26/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [9/6/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [9/16/1944] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [9/17/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [9/23/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [10/4/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [10/23/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [10/28/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [11/6/1944] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [11/9/1944] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [11/13/1944] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [11/15/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [11/22/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [12/3/1944] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [12/7/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [12/8/1944] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [12/10/1944] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [12/26/1944] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [12/31/1944] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [1/3/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [1/9/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [1/15/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [1/21/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [1/24/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [1/28/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [1/30/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [2/2/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [2/6/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [2/8/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [2/13/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [2/25/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [3/7/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [3/9/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [3/15/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [3/23/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [3/27/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [3/29/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [3/30/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [4/6/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [4/9/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [4/11/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [4/16/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [5/10/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [5/15/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [5/16/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [5/22/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [5/23/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [5/25/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [5/30/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [6/4/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [6/9/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [6/17/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [6/24/1945] ]
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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [7/23/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [7/25/1945] ]
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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [8/1/1945] ]
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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [8/9/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [8/12/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [8/15/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [9/4/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [9/13/1945] ]
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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [9/27/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [9/30/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [10/9/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [10/22/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to Mother and Dad [n.d.] ]
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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [10/12/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Jim and Barbara [4/22/1945] ]

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[ V-Mail to his mother [4/24/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Father [4/30/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Dad and Matthew [5/8/1945] ]

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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [7/4/1945] ]
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[ Letter to Mother and Dad [8/7/1945] ]
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[ "John B. Carson in World War II: His Letters Home." Transcript of handwritten letters with biographical information. ]

About this Item

Title

  • John B. Carson Collection

Names

  • Carson, James O.
  • Carson, John B.

Home State

  • South Carolina

Headings

  • -  Carson, John B.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Service Unit/Ship: 410th Field Artillery Group; 731st Field Artillery Battalion
    • Location of Service: Fort Jackson, South Carolina; Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Camp Butner, North Carolina; England; France; European Theater; Germany; Czechoslovakia
    • Highest Rank: First Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a communications officer.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Correspondence [75 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1944-1945)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [1 item] -- Transcription of document (collected 2017)
  • Manuscript: Military Papers [3 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942-1945)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/108853

Online Format

  • image

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:

Carson, James O, and John B Carson. John B. Carson Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.108853/.

APA citation style:

Carson, J. O. & Carson, J. B. (1941) John B. Carson Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.108853/.

MLA citation style:

Carson, James O, and John B Carson. John B. Carson Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.108853/>.