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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 248th Combat Engineers, 3rd Army
  • Location of Service: England; Normandy, France; Brest, France; Germany
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant

View full service history

"I'm sitting there watching him go down this road, and that's when the Battle of the Bulge broke through." (Audio Interview, 32:53.1)

George Bily and his twin brother were drafted in 1943 after they graduated from high school in Cleveland. Though he was trained to fight with the 4th Army in the Pacific Theater, he wound up in the 3rd Army, attending B & C (Bakers & Cooks) School. (His father was a baker.) At the outset of the Battle of the Bulge, he watched in apprehension as a truck in which his brother was riding was hit by German artillery—but his brother did survive. Bily's biggest concern was for his feet, which never seemed to thaw out that very cold winter.

George Wenceslaus Bily Collection
Interview / Recording

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George Wenceslaus Bily Collection
Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • George Wenceslaus Bily Collection

Names

  • Legacies: Stories from the Second World War
  • Bily, George Wenceslaus
  • Swope, Thomas

State of Birth

  • OH

Home State

  • OH

Headings

  • -  Bily, George Wenceslaus
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- 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: 248th Combat Engineers, 3rd Army
    • Location of Service: England; Normandy, France; Brest, France; Germany
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 10/15/2002)
  • Audio: CD [2 items] -- Reference copy (collected 10/15/2002)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/20991

Cite as

  • George Wenceslaus Bily Collection (AFC/2001/001/20991), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio

Additional Metadata Formats

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:

Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, George Wenceslaus Bily, and Thomas Swope. George Wenceslaus Bily Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.20991/.

APA citation style:

Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, Bily, G. W. & Swope, T. (1943) George Wenceslaus Bily Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.20991/.

MLA citation style:

Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, George Wenceslaus Bily, and Thomas Swope. George Wenceslaus Bily Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.20991/>.