Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1914-1918
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Headquarters Company, 306th Field Artillery Regiment, 77th Infantry Division; 88th Aero Squadron; 496th Aero Squadron; 102nd Photographic Section
  • Location of Service: New York; New Jersey; Massachusetts; France
  • Highest Rank: Corporal

View full service history

“With heavy shelling going on, we just felt our way by a pale moonlight over that field never knowing when the next shell would land near us.” (Memoir, page 25)

Described by his son as a “basement inventor,” Louis W. Rosen developed a mechanical device for automatic movement of film, and after being drafted into the Army, he hoped to serve with a photographic section in France. Instead, he spent much of the war repairing telephone lines with the 77th Infantry Division, securing temporary duty in a photographic unit only as the war was nearing an end. In two lengthy letters to his parents, written shortly after the armistice and later collected in his memoir, he describes life on the front, living under constant threat of enemy artillery, mustard gas and aerial attacks. While Rosen survived the war uninjured, he had many close calls, noting, “Very often would I witness a shell land in a spot where I had been only a short while before.”

View 8 images in sequence.
[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

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[ Certificate of promotion to Corporal [2/1/1919] ]
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[ Honorable Discharge ]
View 122 images in sequence.
[ "A Tale of Me and the War" by Louis W. Rosen ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Map of France detailing Rosen's service overseas ]
View Enlarged Image
[ Poem by Rosen, "Might is Right" [11/11/1918] ]

About this Item

Title

  • Louis W. Rosen Collection

Names

  • Rosen, Louis W.
  • Rosen, Lester

State of Birth

  • NY

Headings

  • -  Rosen, Louis W.
  • -  World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1914-1918

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Headquarters Company, 306th Field Artillery Regiment, 77th Infantry Division; 88th Aero Squadron; 496th Aero Squadron; 102nd Photographic Section
    • Location of Service: New York; New Jersey; Massachusetts; France
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1918-1919
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Maps [1 item] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1918)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [7 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1917 - 1919)
  • Photograph: Photocopy of photographic print [9 items] -- Photograph (collected 1917 - 1919)
  • Manuscript: Creative works [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 11/11/1918)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Multiple types of electronic files (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Correspondence [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 02/1919)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2012)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/91520

Cite as

  • Louis W. Rosen Collection (AFC/2001/001/91520), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • 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/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:

Rosen, Louis W, and Lester Rosen. Louis W. Rosen Collection. 1918. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.91520/.

APA citation style:

Rosen, L. W. & Rosen, L. (1918) Louis W. Rosen Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.91520/.

MLA citation style:

Rosen, Louis W, and Lester Rosen. Louis W. Rosen Collection. 1918. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.91520/>.