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Leroy Mzhickteno [2005]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Company E, 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: San Francisco, California; Camp Rucker, Alabama; Camp Butner, North Carolina; New York; Liverpool, England; Normandy, Le Mans, Nancy, France
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/38223

View full service history

"One of them hit right in front of me. I was by myself. And it didn't explode. It would have blew me to kingdom come." (Video Interview, 22:34)

Leroy Mzhickteno, nicknamed Mickey, grew up on the Potawatomi Reservation in Kansas during the Depression. After graduating from high school, he joined the National Guard in 1939 to make money. He was still in the Guard on December 7, 1941, and was soon on fulltime active duty in the Army. His infantry regiment sailed from England to France shortly after D-Day, and they spent the rest of the war chasing the retreating Germans. He was wounded in the back by shell fragments during intense fighting. Patched up and sent back to his unit, he was put in charge of a group of replacements who were more interested in confiscating the food and wine in a village they captured than in pursuing the German Army.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Leroy Mzhickteno Collection

Names

  • Brown, Beth
  • Mzhickteno, Leroy
  • Beal, Gale P.
  • William Cook
  • VA Medical Center, Colmery-O'Neil, Topeka, Kansas

Home State

  • Kansas

Headings

  • -  Mzhickteno, Leroy
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Form

  • Hi-8/Digital 8

Extent

  • 1 item

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • American Indian and Alaskan Native

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Company E, 137th Infantry Regiment, 35th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: San Francisco, California; Camp Rucker, Alabama; Camp Butner, North Carolina; New York; Liverpool, England; Normandy, Le Mans, Nancy, France
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1939-1945
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served in the Army National Guard.

Materials

  • Video: Hi-8/Digital 8 [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2005-03-31)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/38223

Cite as

  • Leroy Mzhickteno Collection (AFC/2001/001/38223), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

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:

Brown, Beth, Leroy Mzhickteno, Gale P Beal, William Cook, and Colmery-O'Neil Va Medical Center. Leroy Mzhickteno Collection. 1939. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.38223/.

APA citation style:

Brown, B., Mzhickteno, L., Beal, G. P., William Cook & Va Medical Center, C. (1939) Leroy Mzhickteno Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.38223/.

MLA citation style:

Brown, Beth, et al. Leroy Mzhickteno Collection. 1939. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.38223/>.