Top of page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Khaki Combat Team, 3rd Battalion, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) (Merrill's Marauders)
  • Location of Service: Bombay, India; Calcutta, India; China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater; Scott Field, St. Louis, Missouri; Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas; Camp Lion, Mt. Oran; HMT Rohna; 20th General Hospital; Miami, Florida; Camp Shelby, Mississippi
  • Highest Rank: Private

View full service history

"There was a notice on the bulletin board that volunteers were needed for a hazardous mission… Anything being better than what I was doing, I signed up immediately." (Memoir, page 3)

Kermit Bushur had an identity problem that nagged him throughout World War II—and likely saved his life. His draft board turned him down several times, granting him exemptions he didn't want, so he finally requested voluntary induction. He missed his outfit's departure for the European Theater and was thrown in with another unit headed for India. His papers were lost when a transport ship carrying him was sunk. Arriving in India with no orders, he was assigned to pick up corpses (a famine was sweeping the country) for funeral pyres. Volunteering for what was described as a hazardous mission, he soon found himself part of Merrill's Marauders, the composite unit of guerrillas sent into Burma to harass the Japanese. He would later learn that his original company was almost completely wiped out on the beaches of Normandy.

Kermit A. Bushur Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML

More Resources

Kermit A. Bushur Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript: XML
View 4 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Special Order #16 [5/6/1945] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Letter Order #426 [5/9/1945] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Note detailing trip home to New York from Karachi ]
View 10 images in sequence.
[ A Insignificant Life in a turbulent world ]

Show more resources (5)

View Enlarged Image
[ Email from Shawn Dochtermann, grandson of the pilot who sunk the Rhona [11/11/2002] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Letter from Major General Frank D. Merril [5/5/1945] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Account of Merrill's Marauders' attempt to open the Ledo-Burma land road to China ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Article from the official Army website: "Sinking of the 'Rhona'--A virtually unknown WWII tragedy" ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Ledo pin created by Bushur ]

About this Item

Title

  • Kermit A. Bushur Collection

Names

  • Merrill's Marauders Association
  • Schneider, Carrie
  • Geneva Hansen
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Piazza, Philip
  • Bushur, Kermit A.

State of Birth

  • IL

Home State

  • FL

Headings

  • -  Bushur, Kermit A.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- 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: Khaki Combat Team, 3rd Battalion, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional) (Merrill's Marauders)
    • Location of Service: Bombay, India; Calcutta, India; China-Burma-India (CBI) Theater; Scott Field, St. Louis, Missouri; Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Little Rock, Arkansas; Camp Lion, Mt. Oran; HMT Rohna; 20th General Hospital; Miami, Florida; Camp Shelby, Mississippi
    • Highest Rank: Private
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Clippings [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 2000)
  • Photograph: Digital print [4 items] -- Photograph (collected 1945)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 08/27/2005)
  • Manuscript: Creative works [1 item] -- (collected 2003)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [3 items] -- (collected 1945)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [1 item] -- (collected 2002)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 08/27/2005)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 01/09/2008)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 01/09/2008)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/29937

Cite as

  • Kermit A. Bushur Collection (AFC/2001/001/29937), 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:

Merrill'S Marauders Association, Carrie Schneider, Geneva Hansen, National Court Reporters Association, Philip Piazza, and Kermit A Bushur. Kermit A. Bushur Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.29937/.

APA citation style:

Merrill'S Marauders Association, Schneider, C., Geneva Hansen, National Court Reporters Association, Piazza, P. & Bushur, K. A. (1943) Kermit A. Bushur Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.29937/.

MLA citation style:

Merrill'S Marauders Association, et al. Kermit A. Bushur Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.29937/>.