Top of page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1914-1918
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Company L, 34th Infantry Regiment, 7th Division
  • Location of Service: Camp Travis, San Antonio, Texas; Camp McArthur, Waco, Texas; Camp Merritt, New Jersey; France
  • Highest Rank: Private First Class

View full service history

"The screeming of the shells was so loud it all most would run any one crazy." (Transcription of edited diary, page 12)

A Texas farm lad of German descent, Hillie Franz fought the Germans in World War I. While serving in France, he found a nearly unused German ledger book and, in spite of his lack of formal education (Franz's spelling was often phonetic at best), he decided to record his experiences in the book. What Franz's account lacks in literacy it more than makes up for in capturing the chaos of the infantryman's life in wartime.

View 2 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

View 143 images in sequence.
[ Handwritten diary 1918 to 1919 ]
View 90 images in sequence.
[ Edited version of diary written when veteran was in his eighties ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Newsclipping: "A Soldier Boy Writes" [June 18, 1918] ]
View 28 images in sequence.
[ Transcription of edited diary ]

About this Item

Title

  • Hillie John Franz Collection

Names

  • Hornaday, Ella
  • Franz, Hillie John

State of Birth

  • TX

Home State

  • TX

Headings

  • -  Franz, Hillie John
  • -  World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1914-1918

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Company L, 34th Infantry Regiment, 7th Division
    • Location of Service: Camp Travis, San Antonio, Texas; Camp McArthur, Waco, Texas; Camp Merritt, New Jersey; France
    • Highest Rank: Private First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1918-1919
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Diaries and journals [1 item] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1918 - 2004)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 06/18/1918)
  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [3 items] -- Portrait (collected 1918)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/12617

Cite as

  • Hillie John Franz Collection (AFC/2001/001/12617), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

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/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:

Hornaday, Ella, and Hillie John Franz. Hillie John Franz Collection. 1918. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.12617/.

APA citation style:

Hornaday, E. & Franz, H. J. (1918) Hillie John Franz Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.12617/.

MLA citation style:

Hornaday, Ella, and Hillie John Franz. Hillie John Franz Collection. 1918. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.12617/>.