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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Headquarters, 3rd Army, XX Corps (Ghost Corps)
  • Location of Service: California; England; Normandy, Avaranches, Coutances, Le Mans, Chartres, Vitre, Laval, Paris, Caen, Verdun, Cherbourg, Fontainebleau, Metz, France; Bastogne, Luxembourg; Ardennes, Belgium; Rhineland; Starnberg, Munchen, Germany; Ried, Austria; European Theater
  • Highest Rank: Technician Three

View full service history

"It is cold out of doors but here inside this old French Garrison, with electric lights and sometimes running water, the fire is hot and I am brewing a cup of java and munching RC [Red Cross] doughnuts." (Letter to sister-in-law, November 30, 1944)

Serving with XX Corps of Patton’s Third Army in the European Theater, Technician Three John O’Reilly sent a handful of typed letters home to his family. Written in a breezy tone, they convey the author’s genial personality, despite ongoing struggles with the illness then known as yellow jaundice (actually hepatitis). Continued poor health followed his service in the European Theater, when he returned home with a case of tuberculosis. The other batch of letters in his collection--sent by the Veterans Administration--reveal his fight to have his condition declared a service-related disability and to obtain military benefits; as well, they narrate his ongoing medical treatment, and his eventual death in December 1950.

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[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

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[ Life Insurance Certificate ]
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[ Copy of Discharge Papers ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration with 2 cards [December 28, 1946] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [March 26, 1947] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [September 11, 1947] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [January 21, 1948] ]

Show more resources (32)

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[ Letter from Disabled American Veterans [January 24, 1948] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [February 9, 1948] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [August 27, 1948] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [March 10, 1949] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [January 20, 1950] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [January 2, 1951] ]
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[ Postcard from Veterans Administration [January 1951] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [January 22, 1951] ]
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[ Postcard from Veterans Administration [February 1951] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [February 19, 1951] ]
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[ Letter from Veterans Administration [May 31, 1951] ]
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[ Letter, "Somewhere in New Guinea" ]
Transcript: XML
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[ Letter to brother Patrick with envelope [November 18, 1944] ]
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[ Letter to sister-in-law [November 20, 1944] ]
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[ Letter to "People" [November 21, 1944] ]
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[ Letter to sister-in-law [November 30, 1944] ]
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[ Letter to "People" [March 7, 1945] ]
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[ Letter to mother [April 4, 1945] ]
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[ Letter to mother with envelope [August 13, 1945] ]
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[ Letter to mother with envelope [April 16, 1945] ]
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[ Letter to mother with envelope [August 19, 1945] ]
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[ Letter to sister-in-law [September 26, 1945] ]
Transcript: XML
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[ Biography of John (Jack) O'Reilly by his brother Daniel Partick O'Reilly ]
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[ Receipts ]
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[ Letter from Evergreen Cemetery [October 27, 1950] ]
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[ John O'Reilly's dog tag ]
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[ Artifact: Nazi arm band ]
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[ Artifact: Nazi Luftwaffe insignia ]
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[ Arm patch of the XX corps. ]
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[ Arm patch of the 4th armored division ]
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[ Map depicting insignia of the Third Army ]
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[ Joke form letter to be filled out by sailor and sent home ]

About this Item

Title

  • John O'Reilly Collection

Names

  • O'Reilly, John
  • O'Reilly, Molly

State of Birth

  • WA

Headings

  • -  O'Reilly, John
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Headquarters, 3rd Army, XX Corps (Ghost Corps)
    • Location of Service: California; England; Normandy, Avaranches, Coutances, Le Mans, Chartres, Vitre, Laval, Paris, Caen, Verdun, Cherbourg, Fontainebleau, Metz, France; Bastogne, Luxembourg; Ardennes, Belgium; Rhineland; Starnberg, Munchen, Germany; Ried, Austria; European Theater
    • Highest Rank: Technician Three
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Biography [1 item] -- (collected 02/2004)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [28 items] -- (collected 1944 - 1951)
  • Manuscript: Other Manuscript Material [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Scrapbooks [1 item] -- (collected 05/21/1945)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [2 items] -- (collected 1943 - 1945)
  • Manuscript: Periodicals [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1944 - 1946)
  • Manuscript: Unit histories [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [154 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943 - 1949)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [1 item] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 06/23/1942)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/12739

Cite as

  • John O'Reilly Collection (AFC/2001/001/12739), 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:

O'Reilly, John, and Molly O'Reilly. John O'Reilly Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.12739/.

APA citation style:

O'Reilly, J. & O'Reilly, M. (1942) John O'Reilly Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.12739/.

MLA citation style:

O'Reilly, John, and Molly O'Reilly. John O'Reilly Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.12739/>.