Top of page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 101st Airborne Division
  • Location of Service: Korea; Japan; Germany; Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: Colonel

View full service history

"I felt a call to my country first of all. Well, not first of all. First, I think you might say, I felt God leading me in that direction." (Video Interview, 14:48)

After a two-year stint in the early 1950s as an enlisted man, Curtis Bowers became an Army chaplain in 1961. Attached to the 101st Airborne, he served a harrowing tour of duty in Vietnam in the mid 1960s, standing by his men in battle, tending to the dying, writing condolence letters to families. He even won a Silver Star for his bravery in trying to rescue men under fire. For Bowers in Vietnam, "Sunday was not Sunday." He held services any day or the week, any time there was a lull in the action.

About this Item

Title

  • Curtis R. Bowers Collection

Names

  • Bitler, Don
  • Bowers, Curtis R.
  • Hill, Barry
  • Sue Paul
  • Warhawk Air Museum

State of Birth

  • PA

Home State

  • ID

Headings

  • -  Bowers, Curtis R.
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Form

  • DVD

Extent

  • 1 item

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: 101st Airborne Division
    • Location of Service: Korea; Japan; Germany; Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: Colonel
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a military chaplain.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 04/08/2009)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/66030

Cite as

  • Curtis R. Bowers Collection (AFC/2001/001/66030), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Service Unit

Gender

Race

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

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/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:

Bitler, Don, Curtis R Bowers, Barry Hill, Sue Paul, and Warhawk Air Museum. Curtis R. Bowers Collection. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.66030/.

APA citation style:

Bitler, D., Bowers, C. R., Hill, B., Sue Paul & Warhawk Air Museum. Curtis R. Bowers Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.66030/.

MLA citation style:

Bitler, Don, et al. Curtis R. Bowers Collection. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.66030/>.