Top of page

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 413th Finance Disbursement Unit, Army Reserve, Pacific
  • Location of Service: Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana; Fort Benning, Georgia; Phu Bai, Vietnam
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant

View full service history

"So we found ourselves one day in Columbus, Georgia, at Ft. Benning with our families, essentially 24 hours later in the middle of sirens going off and a rocket attack in Vietnam" (video interview, 00:20:55.0).

With a different kind of draft likely in his future, Thomas Chapman tried to preserve his baseball career as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies by preemptively joining the Army Reserves in 1967. Instead, he was called up to active duty and missed spring training. In early 1968, as he was once again preparing to attend spring training, the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive. This time, he deployed to Vietnam. He would never play baseball again. Chapman has no regrets, though. "I'm over it…I came home. I'm the lucky one" (video interview, 00:37:39.0).

About this Item

Title

  • Thomas Frederick Chapman Collection

Names

  • Clemson University
  • Chapman, Thomas Frederick
  • Richter, William
  • Lippert, Robert

State of Birth

  • AL

Home State

  • GA

Headings

  • -  Chapman, Thomas Frederick
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 413th Finance Disbursement Unit, Army Reserve, Pacific
    • Location of Service: Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana; Fort Benning, Georgia; Phu Bai, Vietnam
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2010)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 03/07/2014)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 03/07/2014)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/94734

Cite as

  • Thomas Frederick Chapman Collection (AFC/2001/001/94734), 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:

Clemson University, Thomas Frederick Chapman, William Richter, and Robert Lippert. Thomas Frederick Chapman Collection. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.94734/.

APA citation style:

Clemson University, Chapman, T. F., Richter, W. & Lippert, R. Thomas Frederick Chapman Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.94734/.

MLA citation style:

Clemson University, et al. Thomas Frederick Chapman Collection. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.94734/>.