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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • Service History Note: The veteran flew 110 missions over Vietnam in an F-4 aircraft.
  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975; Cold War
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Highest Rank: Major

View full service history

“There is a mystique about being a Marine pilot. You actually believe that you’re invincible.” (Audio Interview, 32:36)

Born during the Depression on the impoverished Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Ed McGaa saw a lot of young men join the military in search of a better life. He joined the Marines and served in Korea just after the truce ending the hostilities was signed. He used the GI Bill to go to college, and then a military recruiter persuaded him to re-enlist. This time, he trained as a Marine pilot for service in Vietnam, where he flew 110 missions, as many as five of them in a 24-hour stretch. McGaa went on to become a published author, exploring in works of fiction and nonfiction the history and contemporary experiences of his people.

Ed McGaa Collection
Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Ed McGaa Collection

Names

  • Heikkila, Kim
  • McGaa, Ed
  • Hudson, Kristen
  • Anoka Ramsey Community College

State of Birth

  • SD

Headings

  • -  McGaa, Ed
  • -  Cold War -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Form

  • CD

Extent

  • 1 item

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • American Indian and Alaskan Native

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Cold War

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Dates of Service: 1954-?
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Service History Note: The veteran flew 110 missions over Vietnam in an F-4 aircraft.
    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Highest Rank: Major
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 04/08/2005)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/28952

Cite as

  • Ed McGaa Collection (AFC/2001/001/28952), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

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:

Heikkila, Kim, Ed McGaa, Kristen Hudson, and Anoka Ramsey Community College. Ed McGaa Collection. 1954. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.28952/.

APA citation style:

Heikkila, K., McGaa, E., Hudson, K. & Anoka Ramsey Community College. (1954) Ed McGaa Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.28952/.

MLA citation style:

Heikkila, Kim, et al. Ed McGaa Collection. 1954. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.28952/>.