Top of page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Unit of Service: F Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
  • Location of Service: United States; Australia; New Zealand; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands); Solomon Islands; New Britain Island (Bismarck Archipelago); New Guinea; Milne Bay
  • Highest Rank: Corporal

View full service history

"I asked for a transfer to the fleet Marine force...the next day after Pearl Harbor. I didn't want to miss the war, you see." (Interview transcript)

In late 1941, Theodore R. Cummings was stationed in Chicago, setting up a metalsmithing school. But with the outbreak of war, he immediately requested a transfer and was soon trained to operate a Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). After landing on Tulagi with the 1st Marine Division, he watched the Battle of Savo Island, describing it as a "huge, just satanic kind of fire on the ocean." He later learned that his brother Edwin’s ship, the USS Vincennes, had sunk during the battle and assumed Edwin had been lost. Meanwhile Edwin also believed his brother had been killed in action, and it would be more than four months before a chance encounter reunited the two in Australia.

Transcript: XML

More Resources

View 3 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]

About this Item

Title

  • Theodore R. Cummings Collection

Names

  • Cummings, Theodore R.
  • McGuckin, Briana
  • Virginia Dodge
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Central Connecticut State University
  • Hurst, Eileen

State of Birth

  • CT

Home State

  • CT

Headings

  • -  Cummings, Theodore R.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

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
    • Unit of Service: F Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
    • Location of Service: United States; Australia; New Zealand; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands); Solomon Islands; New Britain Island (Bismarck Archipelago); New Guinea; Milne Bay
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Photograph: Digital print [3 items] -- Photograph (collected 08/27/2010)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [39 items] -- Typewritten document (collected 07/22/1941)
  • Video: DVD [3 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 08/27/2010 - 09/22/2010)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 05/07/2012)
  • Video: DVD [3 items] -- Reference copy (collected 08/27/2010-09/22/2010)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/78232

Cite as

  • Theodore R. Cummings Collection (AFC/2001/001/78232), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

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/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:

Cummings, Theodore R, Briana McGuckin, Virginia Dodge, National Court Reporters Association, Central Connecticut State University, and Eileen Hurst. Theodore R. Cummings Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.78232/.

APA citation style:

Cummings, T. R., McGuckin, B., Virginia Dodge, National Court Reporters Association, Central Connecticut State University & Hurst, E. (1941) Theodore R. Cummings Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.78232/.

MLA citation style:

Cummings, Theodore R, et al. Theodore R. Cummings Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.78232/>.