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Allan Levin in uniform

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 14th Engineer Battalion Combat; 35th Engineer Battalion Combat
  • Location of Service: Fort Lewis, Washington; Qui Nhon, Dong Ba Thin, Phu Cat, and Landing Zone (LZ) Hammond, Vietnam; Fort Belvoir, Virginia
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/52905

View full service history

"In the very near future, the above named soldier, presently on duty with the United States Army in Vietnam, will again be in your midst, dehydrated, demoralized, demolished, and famished." (Letter to Friends and Relatives, 10/12/1967)

In 1966, long before blogging, camera phones, and social network web sites, Allan Levin enlisted in the Army and began to document his service on almost every medium then available. He wrote dozens of letters, he took hundreds of photographs, he shot home movies on 8mm film, and he recorded his thoughts, reflections, and experiences on audio tapes, which served as oral correspondence to his friends and family back home. Levin served with two engineers battalions in various support positions, and he seemed determined to spend every moment of down time making a record of his time in country between the fall of 1966 and the fall of 1967.

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Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

Allan Stuart Levin Collection
Interview / Recording

View 318 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
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[ Letter to Frances, Howard, & the Boys and envelope [9/1967] ]
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[ Letter to Friends and Relatives and envelope [10/12/1967] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and envelope [10/22/1967] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and envelope [12/14/1967] ]
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[ Birthday card to Frances and envelope [postmarked 2/6/1968] ]
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[ Letter to Gang and envelope [4/10/1968] ]
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[ Letter to Gang and others and envelope [6/4/1968] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and others [7/1/1968] ]
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[ Congratulations card to Frances and envelope [postmarked 8/20/1968] ]
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[ Birthday card to Frances [undated] ]
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[ Birthday card to Frances [undated] ]
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[ Letter to Everybody and envelope [2/11/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and others and envelope [3/13/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and envelope [5/16/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Folks [6/9/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and others and envelope [9/11/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and the gang and envelope [9/19/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and others [postmarked 10/26/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Gang [11/11/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and family and envelope [11/30/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and others and envelope [12/29/1966] ]
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[ Letter to Gang and envelope [1/12/1967] ]
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[ Letter to Lloyd [2/22/1967] ]
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[ Letter to Frances and gang and envelope [3/14/1967] ]
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[ Letter to Folks [3/26/1967] ]
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[ Letter to Gang, postcard, and envelope [4/28/1967] ]
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[ Postcard to Folks [4/29/1967] ]
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[ Letter to Frances, Howard, and the Boys and envelope [7/23/1967] ]
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[ Postcard with veteran's comment: "We pass this point every day on our way to the rifle range" ]
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[ Postcard to Mom and Dad [2/1/1966] ]
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[ Postcard of Ft. Lewis with veteran's comments ]
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[ Mt. Ranier and Ohop Valley, WA ]
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[ Postcard of the Alweg Monorail, Seattle, WA ]
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[ Postcard of the Pacific Northwest wilderness ]
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[ Postcard of Mt. Shuksan and Picture Lake, WA ]
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[ Mt. Ranier and Upper Puyallup River Valley, WA ]
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[ Postcard of Tokyo Tower "The Tallest Tower in the Orient" ]
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[ Postcard of the Towne Motor Hotel, Seattle, WA ]
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[ Mt. Ranier from the New White Pass ]
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[ Postcard of "Snow Covered Yomei-Mon (Nikko)" ]
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[ Postcard: Estuary of the Sumida River ]
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[ Postcard: Mt. Fuji and Cherry Blossoms ]
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[ Postcard: Rock garden at Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto ]
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[ Postcard: Toshugu Shrine (Nikko) ]
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[ Postcard: White Threads Waterfall ]
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[ Postcard: Paradise Beach on Paradise Island, Bahamas ]
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[ Postcard: Higashi Honganji Temple, Kyoto, Japan ]
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[ Postcard: The Buddha of Kamakura ]

About this Item

Title

  • Allan Stuart Levin Collection

Names

  • Levin, Allan Stuart
  • Levin, Allan

State of Birth

  • TX

Home State

  • MD

Headings

  • -  Levin, Allan Stuart
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 14th Engineer Battalion Combat; 35th Engineer Battalion Combat
    • Location of Service: Fort Lewis, Washington; Qui Nhon, Dong Ba Thin, Phu Cat, and Landing Zone (LZ) Hammond, Vietnam; Fort Belvoir, Virginia
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1966-1969
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran organized a food drive to benefit Vietnamese children.

Materials

  • Artifact: Artifact [22 items] -- Postcard (collected 1966)
  • Photograph: Photographic print [190 items] -- Photograph (collected 1966 - 1990)
  • Manuscript: Printed matter [6 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1967)
  • Photograph: 35mm Slides [28 items] -- Photograph (collected 1966 - 1969)
  • Audio: 3" Audio Reel [16 items] -- Audio correspondence (collected 1966 - 1967)
  • Video: 8mm Film [14 items] -- Home movie footage (collected 1966 - 1967)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [10 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1967 - 1968)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [28 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1966 - 1968)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [14 items] -- Digitized Copy (collected unknown)
  • Audio: CD [2 items] -- Reference copy (collected 1966 - 1967)
  • Video: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 1966 - 1967)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/52905

Cite as

  • Allan Stuart Levin Collection (AFC/2001/001/52905), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • 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:

Levin, Allan Stuart, and Allan Levin. Allan Stuart Levin Collection. 1966. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52905/.

APA citation style:

Levin, A. S. & Levin, A. (1966) Allan Stuart Levin Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52905/.

MLA citation style:

Levin, Allan Stuart, and Allan Levin. Allan Stuart Levin Collection. 1966. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.52905/>.