Top of page

Samuel Holiday [2004]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Service Unit/Ship: Headquarters & Service Company, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division
  • Location of Service: Saipan; Iwo Jima; Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands); Kwajalein (Marshall Islands); Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Private First Class
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/52527

View full service history

"They sent us wherever they needed us, wherever we were most dangerous." (Video interview, 46:17)

Private First Class Samuel Holiday was born in Oljato, Utah, within the Navajo Nation. He was raised by his mother in a traditional Navajo way of life, until being forced to attend a government-run boarding school at the age of 13, where he faced harsh discipline and abuse. After joining the Marine Corps in early 1943, he completed demanding training to become a Code Talker. In this critical role, he saw combat on Kwajalein, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. Holiday often accompanied dangerous patrols to locate enemy positions, and called in artillery strikes using the Navajo Code that devastated Japanese positions. He was highly sensitive to the suffering that combat caused on both sides, however. The suffering that he witnessed during the war motivated him to become a traditional medicine man later in life so that he could help others in alleviating their pain.

Interview / Recording

Transcript

        Loading...

About this Item

Title

  • Samuel Tom Holiday Collection

Names

  • Chalmers Ford, Don
  • Holiday, Samuel Tom
  • Fleming, Carol Ellison
  • Navajo Code Talker's Project
  • Salomon, Warren C.

Home State

  • Arizona

Headings

  • -  Holiday, Samuel Tom
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

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: Marine Corps
    • Service Unit/Ship: Headquarters & Service Company, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division
    • Location of Service: Saipan; Iwo Jima; Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands); Kwajalein (Marshall Islands); Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Private First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran was awarded the Congressional Silver Medal for his service as a Navajo Code Talker.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2009-08-04; 2009-08-04)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2004-07-25; 2004-09-09)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/52527

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/[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:

Chalmers Ford, Don, Samuel Tom Holiday, Carol Ellison Fleming, Navajo Code Talker'S Project, and Warren C Salomon. Samuel Tom Holiday Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52527/.

APA citation style:

Chalmers Ford, D., Holiday, S. T., Fleming, C. E., Navajo Code Talker'S Project & Salomon, W. C. (1943) Samuel Tom Holiday Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52527/.

MLA citation style:

Chalmers Ford, Don, et al. Samuel Tom Holiday Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52527/>.