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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • Service History Note: The veteran served as a radio operator.
  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 234th Signal Operations Company
  • Location of Service: San Francisco, California
  • Highest Rank: Technician Four

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Garold Beam Ratzlaff Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

More Resources

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[ Photo Album ]
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[ Wallet card depicting rank and insignia of CO's and NCO's in the United States Army, with a calendar on the reverse ]
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[ Membership card for the NCO club at the Presidio, San Francisco, CA ]
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[ Postcard acknowledging receipt of application for VA benefits [10/19/1948] ]
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[ Train ticket from San Francisco to Denver, CO [2/9/1946] ]
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[ Vocational training record for Garold B. Ratzlaff ]

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[ Authorization for allotment of pay ]
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[ Memo on completion of Unit Gas Officer and Unit Gas N.C.O. Course ]
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[ Certificate appointing Garold B. Ratzlaff Tech. Gr. 5 (Temporary) Signal Corps. ]
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[ Application for National Service Life Insurance ]
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[ Division newsletter, "The Presidio Sun" with cartoon by Ratzlaff on page 10 [9/20/1945] ]
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[ Unit history, 234th Signal Operation Co. ]
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[ Newsletter, "The Presidio Sun" [5/3/1944] ]
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[ Newsletter, "The Presidio Sun" [2/23/1944] ]
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[ Newsletter, "The Presidio Sun" [12/29/1943] ]
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[ Newsletter, "The Presidio Sun" [11/17/1943] ]
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[ Newsletter, "The Presidio Sun" [10/20/1943] ]
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[ List of names and positions corresponding to group photographs of units ]
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[ Handmade pamphlett of cartoons drawn by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon of Hitler handing off the "war baby" to "Mamma Tojo" by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting a sergeant chewing out a private for using too much lye in his mop bucket by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting soldiers drinking in the barracks by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting a gas drill during training by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting a soldier who didn't stay down during a live ammunition exercise by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting a prank played on a soldier in barracks by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting soldiers being drilled at aligning the platoon in a line formation; one of the soldiers is much taller than the others. By Garold B. Ratzlaff. ]
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[ Cartoon depicting a private mistakenly waking his Sergeant early on a Sunday morning by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting a private offering a Sergeant a trick cigar by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting a private volunteering for a gas demonstration by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting foot locker inspection in the barracks by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Cartoon depicting a private trying to impress his sergeant by waxing the barracks floor by Garold B. Ratzlaff ]
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[ Poster: "Careless Sending, Sudden Ending." ]
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[ Poster: "Don't Fill the Air With Useless Signals." ]
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[ Poster: "Make Each Message a Hard Nut to Crack." ]
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[ Poster: "Priority is the Highest Precedence for Administrative Traffic." ]
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[ Poster: "You're on The Spot When You're On the Air." ]
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[ Christmas card and dinner menu drawn by Garold B. Ratzlaff [1942] ]
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[ Christmas menu [1943] ]
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[ New Years card [1944?] ]
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[ Thanksgiving dinner menu [1945] ]
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[ Christmas menu [1944] ]
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[ Artifact: badge with a photo of Garold B. Ratzlaff ]

About this Item

Title

  • Garold Beam Ratzlaff Collection

Names

  • Brown, Mark
  • Linda D. Riffle
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Ratzlaff, Garold Beam

State of Birth

  • CA

Home State

  • CO

Headings

  • -  Ratzlaff, Garold Beam
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- 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, 1939-1945

    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a radio operator.
    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 234th Signal Operations Company
    • Location of Service: San Francisco, California
    • Highest Rank: Technician Four
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 10/21/2004)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 10/21/2004)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 10/21/2004)
  • Artifact: Artifact [1 item] -- (collected 1942 - 1946)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [6 items] -- Photograph (collected 1942 - 1946)
  • Manuscript: Unit histories [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942 - 1946)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [6 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942 - 1946)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [3 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942 - 1946)
  • Manuscript: Periodicals [8 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942 - 1946)
  • Manuscript: Creative works [18 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1942 - 1946)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [10 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1942 - 1943)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/26611

Cite as

  • Garold Beam Ratzlaff Collection (AFC/2001/001/26611), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Service Unit

Gender

Race

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

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:

Brown, Mark, Linda D. Riffle, National Court Reporters Association, and Garold Beam Ratzlaff. Garold Beam Ratzlaff Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.26611/.

APA citation style:

Brown, M., Linda D. Riffle, National Court Reporters Association & Ratzlaff, G. B. (1942) Garold Beam Ratzlaff Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.26611/.

MLA citation style:

Brown, Mark, et al. Garold Beam Ratzlaff Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.26611/>.