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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
  • Unit of Service: 78th Fighter Squadron
  • Location of Service: Iwo Jima; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Captain

View full service history

"And the sights and the sounds and the smells of that day are with me to this day." (Video interview, 11:27)

Jerome Yellin’s career as a fighter pilot got off to a rocky start, when he flunked the physical exam due to 20-30 vision in one eye. Not to be deterred, he obtained a copy of the eye chart from his mother, who worked for the draft board, and passed the test on his second try. Flying with the 78th Fighter Squadron, he took part in the Battle of Iwo Jima and escorted B-29s on bombing runs over Tokyo. Over the course of his time in combat, he lost 16 members of his squadron. On August 13, 1945, he completed his 19th mission over Japan, and arrived back to Iwo Jima to find out the war had been over for three hours. In his oral history interview, he speaks candidly about the sights and smells of war, and about how he overcame Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) through Transcendental Meditation.

Transcript: XML

About this Item

Title

  • Jerome Yellin Collection

Names

  • Kelli Mulcahy
  • Shorak, B.J.
  • Mulcahy, Brian
  • National Court Reporters Association (NCRA)
  • Yellin, Jerome

State of Birth

  • NJ

Home State

  • IA

Headings

  • -  Yellin, Jerome
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • Veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
    • Unit of Service: 78th Fighter Squadron
    • Location of Service: Iwo Jima; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: Veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a fighter pilot and squadron leader.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 05/30/2014)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 05/03/2014)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/95409

Cite as

  • Jerome Yellin Collection (AFC/2001/001/95409), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Battles & Campaigns

Service Unit

Gender

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

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:

Kelli Mulcahy, B.J Shorak, Brian Mulcahy, National Court Reporters Association, and Jerome Yellin. Jerome Yellin Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.95409/.

APA citation style:

Kelli Mulcahy, Shorak, B. J., Mulcahy, B., National Court Reporters Association & Yellin, J. (1942) Jerome Yellin Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.95409/.

MLA citation style:

Kelli Mulcahy, et al. Jerome Yellin Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.95409/>.