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Leo Bailey in uniform, Westdale, NY [7/1917]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1914-1918
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Service Unit/Ship: Company M, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division; Prisoner of War Escort Company 85, Army Service Corps
  • Battles & Campaigns: Toul; Marne; Belleau Wood
  • Location of Service: Fort Slocum, New York; Syracuse, New York; France
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/76979

View full service history

"My twenty-third birthday occurs next week. Despite your two additional years, you may yet outlive me." (Letter to sister, 11/22/1917)

Leo Joseph Bailey was wounded at Belleau Wood while diving for his dugout during an artillery attack, and would spend two months recuperating in various hospitals. Despite his injury, he later looked back fondly on this period. In his memoir, he recalled sleeping in a bed for the first time in nearly a year, and awaking to clean linens and a hearty breakfast as "the ideal life of a soldier's dreams," even if his days were punctuated by the daily dressing of wounds. After several months, he was classified as fit for light duty behind the lines and transferred to Prisoner of War Escort Company 85.

Interview / Recording

More Resources

View 32 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Certificate of Appointment to Sergeant [10/16/1919] ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Honorable Discharge certificate ]
View 258 images in sequence.
[ Memoir and scrapbook: "The War As I Saw It" by Leo J. Bailey ]
View 12 images in sequence.
[ Transcript of original letters, "Letters Home from Leo J. Bailey, World War I in France." ]
View 2 images in sequence.
[ Letter from Leo J. Bailey [6/21/1918] ]

Show more resources (3)

View 5 images in sequence.
[ Letter from Leo J. Bailey to his mother [11/17/1918 ]
View 7 images in sequence.
[ Memoir: "My Trip to France With the Am. Leg. In 1927" by Leo J. Bailey, with photographs. [1927] ]
View 5 images in sequence.
[ Memoir: "Trip to Europe '68" by Leo J. Bailey, written for surviving comrades and family members of his fellow soldiers [1968]. ]

About this Item

Title

  • Leo Joseph Bailey Collection

Names

  • Redmond, Margaret Bailey
  • Bailey, Leo Joseph
  • Daughters of the American Revolution

Headings

  • -  Bailey, Leo Joseph
  • -  World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1914-1918

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Service Unit/Ship: Company M, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division; Prisoner of War Escort Company 85, Army Service Corps
    • Location of Service: Fort Slocum, New York; Syracuse, New York; France
    • Battles & Campaigns: Toul; Marne; Belleau Wood
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1917-1919
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Speech (collected 1987-05-15)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [4 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1968-2008)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [36 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1917-1968)
  • Manuscript: Memoir [2 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 1922-2003)
  • Manuscript: Military Papers [2 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1919-1921)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [14 items] -- Photographs (collected 1917-1919)
  • Photograph: Digital print [4 items] -- Photographs (collected 1919-2010)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/76979

Online Format

  • video
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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:

Redmond, Margaret Bailey, Leo Joseph Bailey, and Daughters Of The American Revolution. Leo Joseph Bailey Collection. 1917. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.76979/.

APA citation style:

Redmond, M. B., Bailey, L. J. & Daughters Of The American Revolution. (1917) Leo Joseph Bailey Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.76979/.

MLA citation style:

Redmond, Margaret Bailey, Leo Joseph Bailey, and Daughters Of The American Revolution. Leo Joseph Bailey Collection. 1917. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.76979/>.