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Brenda Vosbein

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Cold War
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/39017

View full service history

"At the time I enlisted, the emphasis still was more on trying to make women look pretty in uniform than it was in training them to be soldiers." (Video interview, 3:53)

When Brenda Vosbein joined the Army in 1970, she was a WAC with the Women's Army Corps. She overcame her disappointment that women could not serve in combat and became a nurse. In her 29 year career, Brenda experienced--and quickly adapted to--the massive sea change in the military as women's roles expanded. However, when the military's "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy regarding gay military service became a legal issue, Brenda volunteered to be one of the plaintiffs. As the only lesbian plaintiff, and the only plaintiff still on active duty, her pseudonym of "Jane Able" was chosen for the title of the suit Able vs. The United States of America.

Interview / Recording

Transcript

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Brenda A. Vosbein Collection
Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Brenda A. Vosbein Collection

Names

  • American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER)
  • Ballard, Lara
  • Vosbein, Brenda A.

Home State

  • California

Headings

  • -  Vosbein, Brenda A.
  • -  Cold War -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Cold War

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Highest Rank: Lieutenant Colonel
    • Dates of Service: 1970-1998
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)
  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2005-07-02)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/39017

Cite as

  • Brenda A. Vosbein Collection (AFC/2001/001/39017), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • online text
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

Home State

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/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), 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:

American Veterans For Equal Rights, Lara Ballard, and Brenda A Vosbein. Brenda A. Vosbein Collection. 1970. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.39017/.

APA citation style:

American Veterans For Equal Rights, Ballard, L. & Vosbein, B. A. (1970) Brenda A. Vosbein Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.39017/.

MLA citation style:

American Veterans For Equal Rights, Lara Ballard, and Brenda A Vosbein. Brenda A. Vosbein Collection. 1970. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.39017/>.