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Eric Cagle [2006]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Iraq War, 2003-2011; Operation Joint Guardian, 1999-
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment
  • Location of Service: Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Iraq; Kosovo
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/43406

View full service history

"If someone else had gotten hurt, I couldn't have taken that. I mean, I'm happy to be the guy that got hurt, because those are my soldiers, my kids. I didn't want them to get hurt." (Video Interview, 58:56)

Eric Cagle enlisted in the Army in 1998 at 18 and by 2004, when he was sent to Iraq, he had already done tours of duty in Serbia and Afghanistan. On a day he was supposed to be on leave-he'd lost the time to another soldier-he was on a routine patrol in a Humvee when an IED exploded, leaving him with severe head injuries. He has nothing but praise for the treatment he received from the VA, from Walter Reed to the brain injury recovery unit in Palo Alto. During his recovery, he visited his old base at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii, where he was surprised to find that a gymnasium had been named the Eric W. Cagle Muscle Factory.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Eric Wayne Cagle Collection

Names

  • Cagle, Eric Wayne
  • VA Medical Center
  • Miller, Harold L.

Home State

  • Arizona

Headings

  • -  Cagle, Eric Wayne
  • -  Iraq War, 2003-2011 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Operation Joint Guardian, 1999- -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Iraq War, 2003-2011

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment
    • Location of Service: Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Iraq
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1998-2005
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran was wounded on 10/14/2005 when he drove up to an Iraqi national guard compound in Huwijah, northern Iraq, a roadside bomb detonated, shredding one side of his Humvee.
  • Operation Joint Guardian, 1999-

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Location of Service: Kosovo
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2006-04-03; 2014-09-26)
  • Video: MiniDV [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2006-04-03)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/43406

Cite as

  • Eric Wayne Cagle Collection (AFC/2001/001/43406), 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:

Cagle, Eric Wayne, Va Medical Center, and Harold L Miller. Eric Wayne Cagle Collection. 1998. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.43406/.

APA citation style:

Cagle, E. W., Va Medical Center & Miller, H. L. (1998) Eric Wayne Cagle Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.43406/.

MLA citation style:

Cagle, Eric Wayne, Va Medical Center, and Harold L Miller. Eric Wayne Cagle Collection. 1998. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.43406/>.