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Maria Villescas, detail from video interview [n.d.]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Persian Gulf War, 1991
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Service Unit/Ship: 1st Force Service Support Group
  • Location of Service: Camp Pendleton, California; Okinawa, Iwakuni, Japan; Saudi Arabia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/53513

View full service history

"That's when they came to me and said, 'Sergeant V, you're going into Kuwait.'" (Video interview, 19:23)

To many of her Marine comrades, Sergeant Maria Connie Villescas seemed like an unlikely candidate for the role of truck driver, being female and 5'2" tall. Assigned to work in motor transport, she drove tractor-trailers and became certified to teach new Marines how to drive 16-wheeler vehicles-the first woman to do so-before deploying to Saudi Arabia to serve in the Persian Gulf War. Arriving in late October 1990, she helped transport food and supplies during the day, and weathered aerial bombings at night. Though women were banned from participating in combat operations, as the ground war picked up, she and the female drivers underneath her were instructed to take a forward unit into combat in Kuwait, driving through minefields to the front lines.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Maria C. Villescas Collection

Names

  • The Center (The San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center)
  • unknown interviewer
  • Villescas, Maria C.
  • unknown

Home State

  • California

Headings

  • -  Villescas, Maria C.
  • -  Persian Gulf War, 1991 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • Hispanic

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Persian Gulf War, 1991

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Service Unit/Ship: 1st Force Service Support Group
    • Location of Service: Camp Pendleton, California; Okinawa, Iwakuni, Japan; Saudi Arabia; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1983-1994
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Digital print [66 items] -- Photographs (collected unknown)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of photograph (collected 2007-04-18)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/53513

Online Format

  • image
  • 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:

The Center, Unknown Interviewer, Maria C Villescas, and Unknown. Maria C. Villescas Collection. 1983. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.53513/.

APA citation style:

The Center, Unknown Interviewer, Villescas, M. C. & Unknown. (1983) Maria C. Villescas Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.53513/.

MLA citation style:

The Center, et al. Maria C. Villescas Collection. 1983. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.53513/>.