Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Unit of Service: USS Missouri (BB 63)
  • Location of Service: Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Storekeeper Third Class

View full service history

"When the kamikaze start coming … that's when it starts getting real tense."

Edward Wadington served aboard the U.S.S Missouri from its first year of service until shortly after the end of the war. In addition to his description of a kamikaze attack that struck his gun turret, an incident now memorialized in a famous photograph, he provides a fascinating first-person account of the surrender ceremony aboard the Missouri on September 2, 1945.

Edward Wadington Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

More Resources

View 20 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Plan of the Day [Saturday June 10, 1944] ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Plan of the Day [Sunday September 2, 1945] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Missouri News Flashes [August 28, 1945] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Card certifying Ed Wadington present at surrender of Japanese [September 2, 1945] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ State of Illinois Service Recognition Certificate ]

Show more resources (8)

View 2 images in sequence.
[ Letter to "Folks" [May 10, 1945] ]
View 3 images in sequence.
[ Letter to "Folks" [August 17, 1945] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Newsclipping, "Ed Wadington Tells of Jap Surrender Aboard Missouri" [September 4, 1945] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Card depicting the launch of the U.S.S. Missouri, January 29, 1944 ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Card depicting the commissioning of the Battleship Missouri BB-63 [June 11, 1944] ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Happy Hour Program [September 18, 1945] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ The Missourian [March 21, 1946] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Turkish postage stamps ]

About this Item

Title

  • Edward Wadington Collection

Names

  • Kent, Judith
  • Yvonne Herzog
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Flagler County Public Library
  • Wadington, Edward

State of Birth

  • IL

Home State

  • FL

Headings

  • -  Wadington, Edward
  • -  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: USS Missouri (BB 63)
    • Location of Service: Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Storekeeper Third Class
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 11/24/2003)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 11/24/2003)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Multiple types of electronic files (collected 1943 - 1946)
  • Photograph: Digital print [20 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943 - 1946)
  • Manuscript: Mixed (Multiple types of manuscripts) [13 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1944 - 1945)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 11/24/2003)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 11/24/2003)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 11/24/2003)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/11173

Cite as

  • Edward Wadington Collection (AFC/2001/001/11173), 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:

Kent, Judith, Yvonne Herzog, National Court Reporters Association, Flagler County Public Library, and Edward Wadington. Edward Wadington Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11173/.

APA citation style:

Kent, J., Yvonne Herzog, National Court Reporters Association, Flagler County Public Library & Wadington, E. (1943) Edward Wadington Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11173/.

MLA citation style:

Kent, Judith, et al. Edward Wadington Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11173/>.