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Arthur Keller, Sr., WWI USMC

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1914-1918
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Unit of Service: Company A, 1st Machine Gun Training Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment; 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment
  • Location of Service: Parris Island, South Carolina; Meuse-Argonne, Toulon-Troyon, Chateau-Thierry, Soissons, Marbache, St. Michiel, Blanc Mont, Verdun, France; Belgium; Luxembourg; Germany
  • Highest Rank: Corporal
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/55537

View full service history

"We came home in Army uniforms. We couldn't wear the American Marine uniform \\nover there; it was too much like the color of the German uniform." (Audio Interview, \\n1:20:23)

Arthur Keller enlisted in the Marines at the age of 19 during a trip to Chicago from his home in Fairfield, Iowa. At that time, the spring of 1918, the U.S. was starting to send over replacement troops to replenish their losses. Keller, who was interviewed by his daughter in 1974, offers a vivid portrait of life in the trenches, dealing with relentless German shelling and just as persistent body lice. Though he considered the Marines the best disciplined of the services, Keller acknowledges the spirit of cooperation among all those serving. After the Armistice, Keller and a comrade spent six months of the Occupation living with a German family, forging an unlikely bond that prompted a tearful farewell in July 1919.

Arthur Roland Keller Collection
Interview / Recording

More Resources

[ Commision in the United States Marine Corps [April 1, 1918] ]
[ Award of a Good Conduct Medal [1/8/1921] ]
[ Honorable discharge ]
[ Military Record ]
[ Photocopy of Arthur Keller's medals ]

About this Item

Title

  • Arthur Roland Keller Collection

Names

  • Keller, Joyce
  • Legacies: Stories from the Second World War
  • Keller, Arthur Roland
  • Swope, Thomas A.

Home State

  • Iowa

Headings

  • -  Keller, Arthur Roland
  • -  World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1914-1918

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Unit of Service: Company A, 1st Machine Gun Training Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment; 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment
    • Location of Service: Parris Island, South Carolina; Meuse-Argonne, Toulon-Troyon, Chateau-Thierry, Soissons, Marbache, St. Michiel, Blanc Mont, Verdun, France; Belgium; Luxembourg; Germany
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1918-1919
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 1974-11-18; 1994-12-31)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 1974-11-18; 1994-12-31)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [4 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected 1919-1920)
  • Photograph: Digital print [3 items] -- Photograph (collected 1918-1919)
  • Artifact: Artifact photocopy [1 item] -- (collected 1919)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/55537

Cite as

  • Arthur Roland Keller Collection (AFC/2001/001/55537), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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:

Keller, Joyce, Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, Arthur Roland Keller, and Thomas A Swope. Arthur Roland Keller Collection. 1918. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.55537/.

APA citation style:

Keller, J., Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, Keller, A. R. & Swope, T. A. (1918) Arthur Roland Keller Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.55537/.

MLA citation style:

Keller, Joyce, et al. Arthur Roland Keller Collection. 1918. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.55537/>.