Personal Narrative Film, Video Manuscript/Mixed Material Photo, Print, Drawing Charles Luther Blount Collection
Veterans History Project Service Summary:
- War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
- Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
- Unit of Service: 90th Troop Carrier Squadron, 438th Troop Carrier Group, 9th Air Force
- Location of Service: European Theater; Normandy, France
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/6030
Charles Blount was often the last person to see a paratrooper as he dove out of the plane over a drop zone. "I counted them as they went out," Blount says, detailing the events that took place aboard his plane in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. From Normandy to Holland to the Battle of the Bulge, Blount saw the beginning of three major campaigns for victory in Europe. Wounded over Germany in 1945, he would meet years later at a reunion the German Messerschmitt pilot who shot him.
Interview / Recording
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Interview / Recording
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PlayPreparing for D-Day 00:00:01.9 - 00:02:29.0
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PlayD-Day; spending time with the paratroopers on the ride over to France; "Course they were kids just like I was..." 00:03:30.0 - 00:07:01.0
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PlayTowing British paratroopers in gliders over Normandy later in the afternoon of June 6. 00:07:38.0 - 00:08:40.0
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PlayDescription of London during the war; witnessing Buzz Bomb attacks on the city. 00:13:37.0 - 00:15:03.0
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PlayAn emotional meeting with some Netherlanders looking for their family members taken away by the Germans. 00:15:31.0 - 00:17:11.9
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PlayOperation Market Garden; plane shot down while ferrying gliders into the battle zone. 00:17:27.0 - 00:20:34.0
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PlayWounded on a flight over Germany to supply gasoline to Patton's Third Army; several years after the war, meeting the German pilot who shot him. 00:22:10.0 - 00:25:52.1
Interview / Recording
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About this Item
Title
- Charles Luther Blount Collection
Names
- Willie, Michael Lloyd
- WRCB-TV Channel 3
- Blount, Charles Luther
- Bowen, Sarah
Home State
- Tennessee
Headings
- - Blount, Charles Luther
- - World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
- - United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.
Repository
- Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Gender
- Male
Race
- White
Status
- veteran
Service History
-
World War, 1939-1945
- Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
- Unit of Service: 90th Troop Carrier Squadron, 438th Troop Carrier Group, 9th Air Force
- Location of Service: European Theater; Normandy, France
- Highest Rank: Technical Sergeant
- Dates of Service: 1943-1945
- Entrance into Service: Drafted
- Military Status: veteran
Materials
- Manuscript: Mixed (Multiple types of manuscripts) [1 item] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1944-2002)
- Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [9 items] -- Photograph (collected 1944-1945)
- Video: Betacam SP [3 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-03-26)
Collection Number
- AFC/2001/001/6030
Cite as
- Charles Luther Blount Collection (AFC/2001/001/6030), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress
Online Format
- image
- video