Top of page

Joe Kellwood [detail from video]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Location of Service: Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Island); Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Private First Class
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/54892

View full service history

"I was studying on my own at night, and by golly I passed the test - I passed the test and got my stripe." (Video interview, 29:21)

Joe Hosteen Kellwood was born in 1921 in Steamboat Canyon, Arizona, within the Navajo reservation. Kellwood was among the second group of Marines to be trained as Navajo Code Talkers, and he remembers the training as being intense and demanding. He and the 1st Marine Division attacked Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain in December 1943, where he endured the loss of two fellow Code Talkers, as well as malaria and the terror of nighttime Japanese bombing raids. After Cape Gloucester, Kellwood took part in the invasion of Peleliu in September 1944, and Okinawa from April through July 1945. After the war, he attended college using the GI Bill before embarking on a career in the construction field as a carpenter and tradesman. He later became heavily involved with the Navajo Code Talkers Association, with whom he became renowned for his rendition of the Marines Hymn in the Navajo language.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Joe Hosteen Kellwood Collection

Names

  • Chalmers Ford, Don
  • Navajo Code Talker's Project
  • Kellwood, Joe Hosteen
  • Fleming, Carol
  • Warren C. Salomon

State of Birth

  • AZ

Home State

  • AZ

Headings

  • -  Kellwood, Joe Hosteen
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Form

  • DVD

Extent

  • 1 item

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Location of Service: Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Island); Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Private First Class
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 12/07/2003)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/54892

Cite as

  • Joe Hosteen Kellwood Collection (AFC/2001/001/54892), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

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/xxxx), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/xxxx), 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, Navajo Code Talker'S Project, Joe Hosteen Kellwood, Carol Fleming, and Warren C. Salomon. Joe Hosteen Kellwood Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.54892/.

APA citation style:

Chalmers Ford, D., Navajo Code Talker'S Project, Kellwood, J. H., Fleming, C. & Warren C. Salomon. (1942) Joe Hosteen Kellwood Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.54892/.

MLA citation style:

Chalmers Ford, Don, et al. Joe Hosteen Kellwood Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.54892/>.