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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Service Unit/Ship: 30th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Michigan; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Iraq; Kuwait
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/41268

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"This time there was no drill sergeant there...scaring you to do the right thing; it was knowing you were doing the right thing, no matter what." (Audio Interview, 5:27)

Shawn Stenberg had served two tours in Iraq when he was interviewed for the Veterans History Project in April 2006. In the nearly two-year break in his service, he saw significant changes in Iraq. Supplies, from food to body armor, improved dramatically. Some things, however, changed for the worse. The Iraqis had lost their fear of the soldiers, and he routinely came under attack. He also experienced the Army transitioning from a larger, more centralized organization to something like what it was in Vietnam, with an emphasis on every soldier being an infantryman first. Thus, he found himself training cooks and chaplain's assistants for combat, amongst other bewildering duties. (When researcher Larry Minear re-interviewed him on September 11, 2007, Stenberg anticipated being redeployed to Iraq in January 2008. Stenberg remarked, "You change forever when you experience something like this, whether the change is for better or worse.")

Shawn Russell Stenberg Collection
Interview / Recording

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About this Item

Title

  • Shawn Russell Stenberg Collection

Names

  • Christensen, Kenda
  • Press, James
  • Northwestern Michigan College (NMC)
  • Stenberg, Shawn Russell

Home State

  • Georgia

Headings

  • -  Stenberg, Shawn Russell
  • -  Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Iraq War, 2003-2011

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Service Unit/Ship: 30th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Michigan; Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Fort Gordon, Georgia; Iraq; Kuwait
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1990
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2006-04-24; 2007-02-15)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2006-04-24)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [3 items] -- Photographs (collected 2005)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/41268

Online Format

  • audio
  • image

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/[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:

Christensen, Kenda, James Press, Northwestern Michigan College, and Shawn Russell Stenberg. Shawn Russell Stenberg Collection. 1990. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.41268/.

APA citation style:

Christensen, K., Press, J., Northwestern Michigan College & Stenberg, S. R. (1990) Shawn Russell Stenberg Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.41268/.

MLA citation style:

Christensen, Kenda, et al. Shawn Russell Stenberg Collection. 1990. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.41268/>.