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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 250th Field Artillery Rocket Battalion; Headquarters, 3rd Army Missile Command; Headquarters Battery, 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 28th Field Artillery
  • Location of Service: Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Chaffee, Arkansas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Wolters and Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Rucker, Alabama; Germany; Fort Riley, Kansas; Ban Me Thuot, Pleiku, Soc Trang, and Can Tho, Vietnam; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Lisbon, Portugal; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

View full service history

"I was the first of the First [Division] to set foot in Vietnam." (Video Interview, Part 1, 1:10)

Drafted on his 22nd birthday in 1956, Leonard Boswell determined to make the most of his service, applying to Officers Candidate School, eventually gravitating toward aviation. He trained on fixed-wing aircraft, then on helicopters. Eight years in, he decided to make a career out of the Army. By 1965, he was in command of a helicopter battalion assigned to Vietnam and claims to be the first man in the Army's storied First Division to set foot in that country. He did two one-year tours during that war and was frustrated with the lack of discernible progress on his second tour. Boswell retired from the Army in 1976 and was elected to the U.S. Congress from the Third District in Iowa in 1996. As of 2009, he was still serving.

More Resources

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[ Timeline of military service ]

About this Item

Title

  • Leonard L. Boswell Collection

Names

  • Perry, Edwin
  • Boswell, Leonard
  • Boswell, Leonard L.

State of Birth

  • MO

Home State

  • IA

Headings

  • -  Boswell, Leonard L.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 250th Field Artillery Rocket Battalion; Headquarters, 3rd Army Missile Command; Headquarters Battery, 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 28th Field Artillery
    • Location of Service: Fort Sill, Oklahoma; Fort Chaffee, Arkansas; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Wolters and Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Rucker, Alabama; Germany; Fort Riley, Kansas; Ban Me Thuot, Pleiku, Soc Trang, and Can Tho, Vietnam; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Lisbon, Portugal; Fort Leavenworth, Kansas
    • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
    • Dates of Service: 1956-1976
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran also served in the Headquarters Battery, 3rd Howitzer Battalion, 30th Field Artillery; Combat Support Flight and Aerial Survey Platoon and Headquarters Company, 8th Aviation Company, 8th Infantry Division; 1st Infantry Division; Company A, 1st Aviation Battalion; A Company and Headquarters, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Brigade; Headquarters Company, 307th Combat Aviation Battalion, 164th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade; Commander, 336th Assault Helicopter Company; Battalion Commander, 4th Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team; and 155th Aviation Company. Veteran served two one-year tours of duty as an assault helicopter pilot in Vietnam.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Biographical information [3 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 2000 - [2004])
  • Video: MiniDV [4 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 6/3/2003)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [14 items] -- Typewritten document (collected [1960 - 2004])
  • Manuscript: Unit histories [9 items] -- Typewritten document (collected [1960 - 2004])
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Multiple types of electronic files (collected 07/07/2003)
  • Video: DVD [2 items] -- Reference copy (collected 01/03/2008)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected [2002])

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/11908

Cite as

  • Leonard L. Boswell Collection (AFC/2001/001/11908), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • 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:

Perry, Edwin, Leonard Boswell, and Leonard L Boswell. Leonard L. Boswell Collection. 1956. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11908/.

APA citation style:

Perry, E., Boswell, L. & Boswell, L. L. (1956) Leonard L. Boswell Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11908/.

MLA citation style:

Perry, Edwin, Leonard Boswell, and Leonard L Boswell. Leonard L. Boswell Collection. 1956. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.11908/>.