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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Military Assistance Command
  • Location of Service: Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant General

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"I almost went native and became an advocate for protection for the people." (Video Interview, Part 1, 37:00)

James McCall's life took an unexpected turn in 1956. Fresh out of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business and Finance, he was drafted into the Army-and began a successful career in the military that culminated in his achieving the rank of Lieutenant General. McCall served in Vietnam, where he worked closely with the civilians, for whom he developed strong feelings of respect and affection. He also put his education to good use, becoming Army Comptroller, learning how to justify military expenditures to Congressional appropriations committees.

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About this Item

Title

  • James Franklin McCall Collection

Names

  • Murphy, Debra
  • Library of Congress
  • McCall, James Franklin

State of Birth

  • PA

Home State

  • VA

Headings

  • -  McCall, James Franklin
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Military Assistance Command
    • Location of Service: Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: Lieutenant General
    • Dates of Service: 1956-1991
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran was the first African-American Comptroller of the United States Army.

Materials

  • Video: VHS [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 08/17/2005)
  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [24 items] -- Photograph (collected 1958 - 1998)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/29772

Cite as

  • James Franklin McCall Collection (AFC/2001/001/29772), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Service Unit

Gender

Race

Highest Rank

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:

Murphy, Debra, Library Of Congress, and James Franklin McCall. James Franklin McCall Collection. 1956. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.29772/.

APA citation style:

Murphy, D., Library Of Congress & McCall, J. F. (1956) James Franklin McCall Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.29772/.

MLA citation style:

Murphy, Debra, Library Of Congress, and James Franklin McCall. James Franklin McCall Collection. 1956. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.29772/>.