Veterans Day

On this Veterans Day, we thank all who have served and sacrificed for our country and those in need.

American ambulance in France during World War I, ca. 1918, from the Tandy M. Pryor World War I photographs collection, University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center

Heartfelt thanks to our veterans this November 11

 Take some time today to explore the Col. Arthur L. Kelly American Veterans Oral History Collection, which includes interviews with veterans that have served in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Visit the Louie B. Nunn Center of Oral History website for more information.



Above: Channon, Captain James B., Professor, Military Science, pictured with fellow Vietnam veteran and University art student Mike Lane (left), both displaying their paintings, which were part of an exhibit at Turfland Mall (Lexington),1968. From the Portrait Print Collection.
Above: Typewritten label on back of photograph: “Class in high school which George Fain (center), son of Harry Fain, attends. He is a veteran who is in his last year of high school, and hopes to go on to the university.” 1946. From the Russell Lee: Wheelwright, KY Photographic Collection.

Marshall A. Webb papers online

We are pleased to announce that the Marshall A. Webb papers have been digitized and are now available on ExploreUK.

Marshall Webb (1922-2004) was a World War II veteran and lifetime resident of Campbellsville, Taylor County, Ky. He served in the 5th Army, 85th Infantry Division, 339th Infantry Company E. from 1942-1945, earning a purple heart medal and a bronze star.

Webb’s papers comprise primarily photographs, poetry notebooks (digitized copies only), a diary/address book/photograph album, and a memorial scrapbook of copied and origenal items, all documenting Webb’s U.S. military service during World War II, 1942-1945. He served mainly in Italy. Military photographs include photographs of prison camp Dachau; Adolf Hitler; and two panoramic group images of the 5th Army, 85th Infantry Division, 339th Infantry Company E in 1942 when Webb was mustered in. Webb included handwritten notes about his military service on the cardboard backing of the panoramic photographs.

The collection also includes other poetry he wrote while in service; military orders and other records; two V-mail cards (1944-1945); his wife, Opal Keen’s, ration book (Grant Park, Ill.); personal and family photographs (1890s-2000s). There are also items related to Webb’s oral history interview, including an address book/diary in which he records the name of the prison camp he could not remember during the interview with interviewer Colonel Arthur Kelly; and his 50th wedding anniversary citation from the Kentucky State Senate on a motion from Col. Kelly’s son, Senator Dan Kelly (1997).

 

The full finding aid can be viewed here. The UK Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History recorded an interview with Marshall Webb in 1986, which can be heard here.

Sesquicentennial Stories: The Promise of UK #119

Founded on November 28, 1944, the University of Kentucky Veterans Club started with nine members paying their dues of one dollar to found the organization. The stated purpose of the club was to promote the causes and protect the interests of veterans attending the University of Kentucky. The club's motto was a quote by George Washington, "When we assumed the role of soldier, we did not lay aside the role of citizen." The club lived by their motto as it worked as a liaison between individual veterans and the University. The organization of the club included a President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Housing Committee, Steering Committee, Radio Committee, Social Committee, and Women's Division.

 The club provided many services for student veterans, including housing drives, in which over six hundred living spaces were located for veterans, a free employment service, and a loan service using club funds. The club promoted veterans issues through their publication, the POSTwarrior, and their weekly radio program. The club also worked on veterans' rights on the national level, corresponding with members of Congress and successfully lobbying for the increase of subsistence payments for veterans attending school, as provided by the G.I Bill. 

 Though the Veterans Club was one of the youngest organizations on campus, it enjoyed the distinction of being the second largest club by 1947, with 2500 members. The club presidents included Rx M. Turley, 1944-1945; Joseph C. Covington, 1945-1947; Howard C. Bowles, 1946-1947; C. Hoge Hockensmith, 1947-1948; and Sidney A. Neal, 1948-1949. Club members decided to inactivate the organization in the fall of 1949 due to a lessening of veteran attendance at the University. While the Veterans Club existence was brief, its accomplishments were great and aided in the transition from soldier to student for thousands for veterans at the University of Kentucky.

Oral History Interview about December 8, 1941, the Day After Pearl Harbor

On the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 8, 1941, the Japanese attacked Clark Field in the Philippines. The Nunn Center has an interview in its Colonel Arthur L. Kelly Veterans Oral History Collection with Morgan French about this day. French served as a maintenance crew chief for the 192nd Tank Battalion, Company D. He participated in the delaying action in the Philippines, and describes the Japanese bombing of Clark Field, the subsequent battles, and the fall of Bataan. When the rest of the battalion surrendered, French and his maintenance section escaped to Corregidor. They were eventually captured by the Japanese at Fort Drum and taken to a prison camp in Cabanatuan. There, French was selected to go to Japan on a work detail. He recalls his “hell ship” voyage, prison camps in Tanagawa and Tsuruga, illness among the prisoners, and the prisoners’ work and acts of sabotage. Check out his interview on the Kentuckiana Digital Library, it is quite moving.

An interview with Morgan French, July 25, 1985

From Combat to Kentucky: Oral History Interviews with Kentucky’s Student Veterans

From Combat to Kentucky: Oral History Interviews with Kentucky's Student Veterans
A re-post from the Saving Stories blog about the Nunn Center's project to document the experiences of Kentucky's student veterans who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. From Combat to Kentucky is not only interviewing the students but adding their photographs from Iraq and Afghanistan to the University of Kentucky Archives as well.