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Krystyna Kalski [2004]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 933rd Military Police Company
  • Location of Service: Chicago, Illinois; Iraq
  • Highest Rank: Specialist
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/24407

View full service history

"And the thing that motivates you the most to stay there are the people you're with." (Video Interview, 17:35)

Specialist Krystyna R. Kalski joined the Army National Guard in October 2001, even after her father told her that the Army was inappropriate for women. Motivated by a sense of pride and honor in serving and by the military's educational benefits, Kalski was unaware of just how quickly she would be deployed to Iraq after her initial Military Police training. Using colorful language, Kalski describes her every day life as a soldier, going on missions and making quick decisions, her equipment and uniform, the basic necessities she missed, and the toll deployment takes on soldiers.

Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Krystyna R. Kalski Collection

Names

  • William Ogden Elementary School
  • Garcia, Mario R.
  • Kevin Lee
  • Kalski, Krystyna R.
  • Chojnowski, Marcin

Home State

  • Illinois

Headings

  • -  Kalski, Krystyna R.
  • -  Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Race

  • Other

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Iraq War, 2003-2011

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 933rd Military Police Company
    • Location of Service: Chicago, Illinois; Iraq
    • Highest Rank: Specialist
    • Dates of Service: 2001
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of video recording (collected 2004-10-31)
  • Video: VHS [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2004-10-31; 2007-07-07)
  • Video: VHS [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2004-10-31)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/24407

Cite as

  • Krystyna R. Kalski Collection (AFC/2001/001/24407), 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

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

Home State

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/[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:

William Ogden Elementary School, Mario R Garcia, Kevin Lee, Krystyna R Kalski, and Marcin Chojnowski. Krystyna R. Kalski Collection. 2001. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24407/.

APA citation style:

William Ogden Elementary School, Garcia, M. R., Kevin Lee, Kalski, K. R. & Chojnowski, M. (2001) Krystyna R. Kalski Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24407/.

MLA citation style:

William Ogden Elementary School, et al. Krystyna R. Kalski Collection. 2001. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.24407/>.