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Lt. Glenn Nelson, 1945.

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Unit of Service: 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division
  • Location of Service: Boulder, Colorado; Quantico, Virginia; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Guam (Mariana Islands); North China; Sasebo, Japan; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/10653

View full service history

"I was attending an outdoor movie when ships started firing guns… An announcer cut in \\non the movie and said the Japanese had surrendered." (Memoir, page 2)

Glenn Nelson, a product of the plains of Wyoming and Nebraska, made an unusual career choice when he joined the Navy in the early days of World War II; he attended the service's Japanese Language School. His duties were to translate captured documents and interrogate the rare captured Japanese soldier. On Okinawa, he took the difficult assignment of trying to persuade surviving soldiers and civilians to come out from the island's many caves. He was in Pearl Harbor for the surrender, but by that point Nelson had become so fascinated with the Japanese that he spent 20 years after the war in Japan with the Central Intelligence Agency.

Interview / Recording

More Resources

[ Oral History Narrative of Glen W. Nelson ]
[ Clipping: Meeting a Voice after 44 Years ]

About this Item

Title

  • Glenn Walter Nelson Collection

Names

  • Nelson, Glenn Walter
  • Japanese-American Veterans Association (JAVA)
  • Shima, Terry T.

Home State

  • Virginia

Headings

  • -  Nelson, Glenn Walter
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Unit of Service: 29th Marine Regiment, 6th Marine Division
    • Location of Service: Boulder, Colorado; Quantico, Virginia; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Okinawa Island (Ryukyu Islands); Guam (Mariana Islands); North China; Sasebo, Japan; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1947
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected 2003-10-08)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 2003)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [3 items] -- Typewritten document (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [6 items] -- (collected 1945-1990)
  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-10-08)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/10653

Cite as

  • Glenn Walter Nelson Collection (AFC/2001/001/10653), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

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:

Nelson, Glenn Walter, Japanese-American Veterans Association, and Terry T Shima. Glenn Walter Nelson Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10653/.

APA citation style:

Nelson, G. W., Japanese-American Veterans Association & Shima, T. T. (1942) Glenn Walter Nelson Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10653/.

MLA citation style:

Nelson, Glenn Walter, Japanese-American Veterans Association, and Terry T Shima. Glenn Walter Nelson Collection. 1942. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.10653/>.