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Roy Bailey at time of military service

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 71st Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Camp Roberts, California; Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Kilmer, New Jersey; European Theater
  • Highest Rank: Private
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/44446

View full service history

"The thing about being exceptionally happy that you are alive only lasts temporary, because all your buddies that you knew, a lot of them are still over there in graveyards." (Video Interview, 58:48)

Raised in an Anchorage orphanage, Roy Bailey was educated at a school for Alaskan natives until he was 15, when he went to work fulltime. At 17, he lied about his age to get into the Army and two years later, he found himself in the midst of the European Theater’s most intense fighting. Wounded and tangled up in wires, Bailey listened as many of his comrades died in the snowy woods. When he made it back to safety, no one would believe that his wounds were inflicted by the enemy. He was given belated recognition for his valor some 50 years later at a ceremony in Alaska attended by VIPs and his family.

Interview / Recording

Transcript

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More Resources

View 2 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Certificate awarding Roy Bailey the purple heart ]
View Enlarged Image
[ A certificate from the Alaskan government to the Veteran for his Army service during World War II ]
View Enlarged Image
[ A newspaper article in the Daily Sitka Sentinel about the Veteran's Army service in Europe during World War II and receiving his medals he earned years later [2/17/1999] ]
View Enlarged Image
[ The letters to the editor section in the Daily Sitka Sentinel with a letter from numbers people about the organization and results in honoring the Veteran [3/4/1999] ]

About this Item

Title

  • Roy Daniel Bailey Collection

Names

  • Sitka Community Schools
  • Kyle Ainsle
  • Bailey, Roy Daniel
  • John Ferrick
  • Ainslie, Kurt
  • Dehlin, Darlene

State of Birth

  • AK

Home State

  • AK

Headings

  • -  Bailey, Roy Daniel
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Notes

  • -  Dorothy J. C. Orbison, Francisco Jativa, and Tyler Holmlund also interviewed the veteran.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • American Indian and Alaskan Native

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 71st Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Camp Roberts, California; Fort Benning, Georgia; Camp Kilmer, New Jersey; European Theater
    • Highest Rank: Private
    • Dates of Service: 1944-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Civilian papers (certificates, forms, wills, etc) [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 3/3/1999)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1999)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 11/24/1998)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Multiple types of electronic files (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Digital print [3 items] -- Photograph (collected 1944 - 1999)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2/26/2005)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/44446

Cite as

  • Roy Daniel Bailey Collection (AFC/2001/001/44446), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

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:

Sitka Community Schools, Kyle Ainsle, Roy Daniel Bailey, John Ferrick, Kurt Ainslie, and Darlene Dehlin. Roy Daniel Bailey Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.44446/.

APA citation style:

Sitka Community Schools, Kyle Ainsle, Bailey, R. D., John Ferrick, Ainslie, K. & Dehlin, D. (1944) Roy Daniel Bailey Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.44446/.

MLA citation style:

Sitka Community Schools, et al. Roy Daniel Bailey Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.44446/>.