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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Coast Guard
  • Unit of Service: USSCGC Shoshone; USSCGC Taney; USSCGC Tiger; USS Philadelphia
  • Location of Service: South Pacific
  • Highest Rank: Chief Boatswain's Mate

View full service history

"The planes were strafing us...you could hear metal hitting the ship...and then we realized we were really at war." (Audio interview, 8:25)

Attracted to the Coast Guard by its reputation as the oldest continuous seagoing service, Ralph Chester Nash departed for Hawaii in 1939 to serve aboard the USCGC Tiger. Patrolling the waters outside of Pearl Harbor on the morning of December 7th, he and his crew spotted a small submarine; they chased it with no success. In the moments before the first wave of Japanese airplanes flew overhead, the Tiger came under fire from the “mother” submarine stationed out at sea. After the attack, Nash spent the remainder of the war escorting troop and ammunitions ships through the South Pacific, protecting them from enemy submarines.

Ralph C. Nash Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

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[ Biographical information ]

About this Item

Title

  • Ralph C. Nash Collection

Names

  • Nash, Ralph C.
  • Hilger, Prudence

State of Birth

  • CO

Home State

  • CO

Headings

  • -  Nash, Ralph C.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Coast Guard.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Coast Guard
    • Unit of Service: USSCGC Shoshone; USSCGC Taney; USSCGC Tiger; USS Philadelphia
    • Location of Service: South Pacific
    • Highest Rank: Chief Boatswain's Mate
    • Dates of Service: 1935-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran was in the Army program Citizens Military Training Camps while in high school.

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 08/12/2003)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [5 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Unit histories [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [3 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Maps [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 08/12/2003)
  • Video: VHS [4 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 08/12/2003)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/12731

Cite as

  • Ralph C. Nash Collection (AFC/2001/001/12731), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Battles & Campaigns

Service Unit

Gender

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Interviewee

Interviewer

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:

Nash, Ralph C, and Prudence Hilger. Ralph C. Nash Collection. 1935. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.12731/.

APA citation style:

Nash, R. C. & Hilger, P. (1935) Ralph C. Nash Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.12731/.

MLA citation style:

Nash, Ralph C, and Prudence Hilger. Ralph C. Nash Collection. 1935. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.12731/>.