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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Location of Service: Great Lakes, Illinois

View full service history

“I had more freedom in the service than I did at home.” (Video interview, 2:30)

Hailing from northeast Oklahoma, Gerald Ketcher joined the Navy in the early 1950s in search of better opportunities than he could find at home. He graduated from self-described "deck ape" to trained teletypist before landing tanks and evacuating Marines at the Battle of Inchon Bay during the Korean War. Then, upon his return stateside, a newly discharged Navy contact offered him a factory job in his hometown. The Navy had taken him out of Oklahoma only to lead him back to his roots.

About this Item

Title

  • Gerald Ketcher Collection

Names

  • Missouri Southern State University
  • Markman, Robert
  • Ketcher, Gerald
  • Wagner, Steven

State of Birth

  • OK

Home State

  • OK

Headings

  • -  Ketcher, Gerald
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Notes

  • -  The veteran's biographical form lists race/ethnicity as Cherokee.

Form

  • DVD

Extent

  • 1 item

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • American Indian and Alaskan Native

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Location of Service: Great Lakes, Illinois
    • Military Status: Veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 01/16/2008)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/95127

Cite as

  • Gerald Ketcher Collection (AFC/2001/001/95127), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Gender

Race

Highest Rank

Discharge Status

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

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:

Missouri Southern State University, Robert Markman, Gerald Ketcher, and Steven Wagner. Gerald Ketcher Collection. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.95127/.

APA citation style:

Missouri Southern State University, Markman, R., Ketcher, G. & Wagner, S. Gerald Ketcher Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.95127/.

MLA citation style:

Missouri Southern State University, et al. Gerald Ketcher Collection. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.95127/>.