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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Unit of Service: USS Nevada (BB 36); USS Mirth (AM 265); Minesweeper USS YMS 365
  • Location of Service: San Diego, California; Norfolk, Virginia; Cleveland, Ohio; Seattle, Washington; New York; Pearl Harbor
  • Highest Rank: Boatswain's Mate First Class

View full service history

"You just don’t kill a battleship that way…"(Video interview, 9:49)

Ivan Arnold Harris enlisted in the Navy with a sense of adventure, which served him well on the morning of December 7th. Bouncing back from the shock of attack, he was able to handle the coming days with his characteristic resiliency and joie de vivre. He describes his pride and affection for the USS Nevada and its sister ship, the USS Oklahoma; his worst moment came when he realized that the Oklahoma had been sunk. After cleaning up the Nevada little by little, he and his crew accompanied the ship as she ventured stateside and then on convoy duty in the Atlantic.

Transcript: XML

About this Item

Title

  • Ivan Arnold Harris Collection

Names

  • Harris, Ivan Arnold
  • Cox, Carl
  • VA Medical Center, San Diego, California

State of Birth

  • CO

Home State

  • CA

Headings

  • -  Harris, Ivan Arnold
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

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: Navy
    • Unit of Service: USS Nevada (BB 36); USS Mirth (AM 265); Minesweeper USS YMS 365
    • Location of Service: San Diego, California; Norfolk, Virginia; Cleveland, Ohio; Seattle, Washington; New York; Pearl Harbor
    • Highest Rank: Boatswain's Mate First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1939-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran is a Pearl Harbor survivor.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 8/10/2005)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 8/10/2005)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/35001

Cite as

  • Ivan Arnold Harris Collection (AFC/2001/001/35001), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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:

Harris, Ivan Arnold, Carl Cox, and San Diego Va Medical Center. Ivan Arnold Harris Collection. 1939. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.35001/.

APA citation style:

Harris, I. A., Cox, C. & Va Medical Center, S. D. (1939) Ivan Arnold Harris Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.35001/.

MLA citation style:

Harris, Ivan Arnold, Carl Cox, and San Diego Va Medical Center. Ivan Arnold Harris Collection. 1939. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.35001/>.