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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Unit of Service: F Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division
  • Location of Service: Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands); Marshall Islands; Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands); Iwo Jima; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant

View full service history

"I get quite upset when people say, as a cook, you did not see combat on the front lines...I had a duty to perform where and whatever was involved." (Memoir, page 3)

After weeks of training in frigid winter conditions, Joseph Lane, Jr., jumped at the chance to become a cook, noting the seemingly favorable working conditions: “inside, warm, lots of food.” But working as a cook was not without challenges. After landing on Guadalcanal, and losing several ships (and the supplies they carried) to enemy attacks, the men were left with nothing to eat but captured Japanese rice infested with ants and worms, and local coconuts. Though supply lines were eventually restored, Lane suffered dysentery and survived nightly bombing raids before rotating back to the United States for additional training in early 1943.

View 58 images in sequence.
[ Memoir: "Four Years of My Life, January 2, 1942 thru February 1, 1946 ]

About this Item

Title

  • Joseph Lane, Jr. Collection

Names

  • Lane Jr., Joseph
  • Lane, Joseph

State of Birth

  • IN

Home State

  • KY

Headings

  • -  Lane Jr., Joseph
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Unit of Service: F Company, 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division
    • Location of Service: Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands); Marshall Islands; Saipan (Northern Mariana Islands); Tinian (Northern Mariana Islands); Iwo Jima; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran moved from private to staff sergeant in 18 months and ran a battalion mess hall.

Materials

  • Artifact: Artifact [2 items] -- (collected 1944 - 1945)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- Handwritten document (collected unknown)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/92616

Cite as

  • Joseph Lane, Jr. Collection (AFC/2001/001/92616), 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:

Lane Jr., Joseph, and Joseph Lane. Joseph Lane, Jr. Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.92616/.

APA citation style:

Lane Jr, J. & Lane, J. (1942) Joseph Lane, Jr. Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.92616/.

MLA citation style:

Lane Jr., Joseph, and Joseph Lane. Joseph Lane, Jr. Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.92616/>.