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Donald Spencer, circa 1943.

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
  • Unit of Service: 584th Bomb Squadron, 394th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force
  • Location of Service: England; France; Holland; Germany
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/2975

View full service history

"There isn't any place which looks as good to me as our home field after a cold hard mission." (Memoirs, page 158)

When he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1943, Donald Spencer was familiar with barracks-style living--he had grown up with four brothers and five sisters. But this 18-year-old from the Midwest was soon thrust into a less familiar world, of bombing missions over Belgium, Holland, and Germany. Spencer and three of his brothers serving in the military wrote home frequently, and their mother kept every scrap of mail, as well pertinent clippings from Stars and Stripes. Years later Spencer assembled her archives for a moving portrait of one family's enormous contribution to the war effort.

[ Memoirs: World War II, Missions, Letters, Notes and Remembrances ]

About this Item

Title

  • Donald L. Spencer Collection

Names

  • Spencer, Donald L.

Home State

  • Oregon

Headings

  • -  Spencer, Donald L.
  • -  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: 584th Bomb Squadron, 394th Bomb Group, 9th Air Force
    • Location of Service: England; France; Holland; Germany
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1945
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: Donald L. Spencer is one of 10 children. Four of five boys in his family served at the same time in World War II.

Materials

  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2001; 2002-09-29)
  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2001)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/2975

Cite as

  • Donald L. Spencer Collection (AFC/2001/001/2975), 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/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), 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:

Spencer, Donald L. Donald L. Spencer Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02975/.

APA citation style:

Spencer, D. L. (1943) Donald L. Spencer Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02975/.

MLA citation style:

Spencer, Donald L. Donald L. Spencer Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02975/>.