Top of page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT)
  • Location of Service: United States; Italy; European Theater
  • Highest Rank: Technician Four
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/56511

View full service history

"What you can provide from your own personal history will benefit future historians, and also, it will benefit your family." (Audio Interview)

Like many young Japanese American men during World War II, Terry Shima was eager to prove his loyalty to his country. He was drafted into the Army and, though he had only a high school diploma and no experience, he was placed with the public relations services. His unit, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, distinguished itself while fighting in Italy and France. Years after the war, Shima headed the Japanese American Veterans Association, an organization formed to make sure that the accomplishments of the 442nd and of individual veterans in subsequent wars would never be forgotten. He has interviewed several members of JAVA for the Veterans History Project.

Terry T. Shima Collection
Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Terry T. Shima Collection

Names

  • Library of Congress
  • Wiener, Thomas
  • Shima, Terry T.

State of Birth

  • HI

Home State

  • MD

Headings

  • -  Shima, Terry T.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Asian

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT)
    • Location of Service: United States; Italy; European Theater
    • Highest Rank: Technician Four
    • Dates of Service: 1944-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 04/12/2008)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 04/12/2008)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/56511

Cite as

  • Terry T. Shima Collection (AFC/2001/001/56511), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Service Unit

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

Home State

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

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:

Library Of Congress, Thomas Wiener, and Terry T Shima. Terry T. Shima Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.56511/.

APA citation style:

Library Of Congress, Wiener, T. & Shima, T. T. (1944) Terry T. Shima Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.56511/.

MLA citation style:

Library Of Congress, Thomas Wiener, and Terry T Shima. Terry T. Shima Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.56511/>.