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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Unit of Service: 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
  • Location of Service: Korea; China; Guam (Mariana Islands); United States
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/8137

View full service history

"I guess getting shot was the best thing that ever happened to me." (Audio Interview, 34:06)

A troubled teenager, Harvey Steinberg enlisted in the Marines shortly after the end of World War II. As a telephone lineman, he did a tour of duty in China, when the communists were warring with the Nationalists. His enlistment commitment was to end in October 1950, but when the Korean War broke out, the Marines told him they needed platoon leaders and would make him an officer. He turned down the offer, assuming he would ride out his enlistment. Instead he was frozen in his position and soon shipped out to Korea. When he arrived at Inchon in September 1950, the weather was still summery, but two months later he was at the Chosin Reservoir, battling subzero conditions and an overwhelming force of Chinese soldiers. During the withdrawal, which he refers to as "attacking in the opposite direction," Steinberg was wounded in the wrist and ankle. The blood on his foot froze, likely saving him from amputation. Recuperating at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, he met a Jewish Marine, the only other one of his "tribe" he came across.

Harvey B. Steinberg Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Harvey B. Steinberg Collection

Names

  • DAR-Chevy Chase, Maryland Chapter
  • Brault, Dorothy M.
  • Steinberg, Harvey B.
  • Daughters of the American Revolution, Chevy Chase, Maryland Chapter

Home State

  • Maryland

Headings

  • -  Steinberg, Harvey B.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Unit of Service: 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division
    • Location of Service: Korea; China; Guam (Mariana Islands); United States
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1946-1951
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-03-04)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2006-11-03)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2006-11-03)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2006-11-03; 2006-11-04)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2006-03-22; 2006-03-22)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/8137

Cite as

  • Harvey B. Steinberg Collection (AFC/2001/001/8137), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text

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:

Dar-Chevy Chase, Maryland Chapter, Dorothy M Brault, Harvey B Steinberg, and Chevy Chase Daughters Of The American Revolution. Harvey B. Steinberg Collection. 1946. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08137/.

APA citation style:

Dar-Chevy Chase, M. C., Brault, D. M., Steinberg, H. B. & Daughters Of The American Revolution, C. C. (1946) Harvey B. Steinberg Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08137/.

MLA citation style:

Dar-Chevy Chase, Maryland Chapter, et al. Harvey B. Steinberg Collection. 1946. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08137/>.