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Walter Washington [detail from video]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Vietnam War, 1961-1975
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Unit of Service: 1st Marine Division; Fleet Marine Force (FMF)
  • Location of Service: Iwakuni, Japan; Bien Hoa, Vietnam; Coronado, Colorado; Santa Ana, California; Seattle, Washington
  • Highest Rank: E-6
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/80946

View full service history

"I mean, it was 15 miles, only just five minutes at the most, and it felt like five years." (Interview transcript)

For Walter Washington, serving with the Marine Corps Air Combat Intelligence provided him with a different experience than many had in country: his day-to-day routine involved high level intelligence photography and reports, rather than combat patrol missions. As well, at 24, he was much older than many of the 18- and 19-year-old soldiers on base. As he explains in his interview, interacting with his younger comrades taught him "command presence" and leadership skills that he would put to good use in his life after Vietnam.

Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Walter Edward Washington Collection

Names

  • Dodge, Virginia
  • Washington, Walter Edward
  • Blacks in Government (BIG)
  • Allen, Renaee

Home State

  • Washington (State)

Headings

  • -  Washington, Walter Edward
  • -  Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Vietnam War, 1961-1975

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Unit of Service: 1st Marine Division; Fleet Marine Force (FMF)
    • Location of Service: Iwakuni, Japan; Bien Hoa, Vietnam; Coronado, Colorado; Santa Ana, California; Seattle, Washington
    • Highest Rank: E-6
    • Dates of Service: 1971-1984
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2011-08-23)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2011-08-27)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/80946

Cite as

  • Walter Edward Washington Collection (AFC/2001/001/80946), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • online text
  • 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:

Dodge, Virginia, Walter Edward Washington, Blacks In Government, and Renaee Allen. Walter Edward Washington Collection. 1971. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.80946/.

APA citation style:

Dodge, V., Washington, W. E., Blacks In Government & Allen, R. (1971) Walter Edward Washington Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.80946/.

MLA citation style:

Dodge, Virginia, et al. Walter Edward Washington Collection. 1971. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.80946/>.