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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Unit of Service: 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment
  • Location of Service: Okinawa Island, Japan; Vietnam; San Diego, California; Camp Pendleton, California
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant

View full service history

“You learn to psych yourself out, to overcome the fear.” (Video interview, 32:57)

For Marine Corps Sergeant Fred Carl Venrick, basic training, and then jungle training in Okinawa, presented challenges that he had no difficulty in meeting. It was not until he landed in Vietnam in June 1965, and saw wounded Marines and casualties in body bags, that he was hit with the realization that war was not a John Wayne movie. In his interview, he narrates the frustration and terror of going on patrol, the atrocities that can happen during wartime, and the black humor of day-to-day life in country—and the need to put up an “emotional defense perimeter” to cope with what he witnessed.

About this Item

Title

  • Fred Carl Venrick Collection

Names

  • Anderson, Corby
  • Glidden, Dan
  • Venrick, Fred Carl
  • Roaring Fork Veterans History Project, Aspen Historical Society
  • Danny Collins
  • Ian Fellerman

State of Birth

  • IL

Home State

  • CO

Headings

  • -  Venrick, Fred Carl
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- 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

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Unit of Service: 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment
    • Location of Service: Okinawa Island, Japan; Vietnam; San Diego, California; Camp Pendleton, California
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1963-1967
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 05/21/2009)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/67625

Cite as

  • Fred Carl Venrick Collection (AFC/2001/001/67625), 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:

Anderson, Corby, Dan Glidden, Fred Carl Venrick, Aspen Historical Society Roaring Fork Veterans History Project, Danny Collins, and Ian Fellerman. Fred Carl Venrick Collection. 1963. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.67625/.

APA citation style:

Anderson, C., Glidden, D., Venrick, F. C., Roaring Fork Veterans History Project, A. H. S., Danny Collins & Ian Fellerman. (1963) Fred Carl Venrick Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.67625/.

MLA citation style:

Anderson, Corby, et al. Fred Carl Venrick Collection. 1963. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.67625/>.