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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Service Unit/Ship: USS Tennessee
  • Location of Service: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Newport News, Virginia
  • Highest Rank: Ensign
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/11110

View full service history

"That was the day. Total devastation, total amazement, dazed. But we were doing our job. We had to do our job, didn't think beyond just that." (Audio interview, 25:15)

Commissioned as an ensign in the Navy in 1940 and assigned to the battleship USS Tennessee, Norwood Teague found himself in the thick of the action on December 7th. Surrounded by fires burning on the USS West Virginia and the USS Arizona, he was ordered to the second deck of the Tennessee to investigate conditions; he found it so hot that the paint was smoldering, giving off waves of thick, toxic smoke. Here, he gives an intensely detailed account of the attack as he experienced it: amidst the chaos of Battleship Row.

Norwood Teague Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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More Resources

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[ Norwood Teague at Pearl Harbor, December 7th, 1941 ]

About this Item

Title

  • Norwood Teague Collection

Names

  • Graeber, Kristina
  • Selig, Diana
  • Teague, Norwood
  • Claremont McKenna College

Home State

  • California

Headings

  • -  Teague, Norwood
  • -  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 Tennessee
    • Location of Service: Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; San Francisco, California; Seattle, Washington; Newport News, Virginia
    • Highest Rank: Ensign
    • Dates of Service: 1940-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: Teague is a Pearl Harbor survivor.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2008-09-25)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2008-09-25; 2008-09-25)
  • Manuscript: Memoir [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Audio: Microcassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-12-10)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2007-12-17; 2007-12-17)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/11110

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text
  • 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:

Graeber, Kristina, Diana Selig, Norwood Teague, and Claremont Mckenna College. Norwood Teague Collection. 1940. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11110/.

APA citation style:

Graeber, K., Selig, D., Teague, N. & Claremont Mckenna College. (1940) Norwood Teague Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11110/.

MLA citation style:

Graeber, Kristina, et al. Norwood Teague Collection. 1940. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11110/>.