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Charles Jesse Phillips in uniform, with his grandmother [1945]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Merchant Marine
  • Unit of Service: SS William Dean Howells; SS William James; SS J. B. Miller; SS Jane G. Swisshelm; SS Stephen B. Elkens; SS Alcoa Planter
  • Location of Service: Atlantic Ocean; Caribbean Sea; Pacific Theater; Baltic Sea; English Channel
  • Highest Rank: Able Bodied Seaman
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/24890

View full service history

"I made up my mind I wasn’t going to sail the North Atlantic again because it was too rough." (Audio Interview, 5:16)

Charles Phillips’ World War II stint in the Merchant Marine kept him one step ahead of disaster. He had a superstition about sailing on the same ship twice, and several times, ships he was on were heavily damaged. After several perilous voyages across the stormy North Atlantic, he vowed to sail only the Pacific; on his second Pacific voyage, he rode out a powerful typhoon near Okinawa that blew away over 8 million feet of lumber he had just helped deliver. Still, he admits that if he hadn’t gotten married, he would have made a career out of sailing, he loved it so much.

Charles Jesse Phillips Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Charles Jesse Phillips Collection

Names

  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Montgomery, Meagan
  • Virginia Dodge
  • Phillips, Charles Jesse

State of Birth

  • MO

Home State

  • MO

Headings

  • -  Phillips, Charles Jesse
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Merchant Marine.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Merchant Marine
    • Unit of Service: SS William Dean Howells; SS William James; SS J. B. Miller; SS Jane G. Swisshelm; SS Stephen B. Elkens; SS Alcoa Planter
    • Location of Service: Atlantic Ocean; Caribbean Sea; Pacific Theater; Baltic Sea; English Channel
    • Highest Rank: Able Bodied Seaman
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1946
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [4 items] -- Photograph (collected 1943 - 1945)
  • Audio: Microcassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 10/02/2004)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 10/02/2004)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 10/02/2008)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 10/02/2004)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/24890

Cite as

  • Charles Jesse Phillips Collection (AFC/2001/001/24890), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • online text

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:

National Court Reporters Association, Meagan Montgomery, Virginia Dodge, and Charles Jesse Phillips. Charles Jesse Phillips Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24890/.

APA citation style:

National Court Reporters Association, Montgomery, M., Virginia Dodge & Phillips, C. J. (1943) Charles Jesse Phillips Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24890/.

MLA citation style:

National Court Reporters Association, et al. Charles Jesse Phillips Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24890/>.