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Samuel Harmon at time of interview.

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945; Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Navy
  • Location of Service: Japan; Treasure Island, California; Yokosuka, Japan; Norfolk, Virginia; Great Lakes, Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: Chief Electronics Technician
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/74515

View full service history

"I decided I could get myself drafted…" (Video interview, 3:19)

Born in 1929, Chief Electronics Technician Samuel T. Harmon's enthusiasm for aviation was so great that he decided to quit school at the tender age of 15, and convince his local draft board that he was old enough to be called up for World War II. Fascinated by the stories of Tuskegee Airmen, he wanted to be a pilot, and had financed flying lessons by parachute jumping with an air circus. The Navy had other ideas about the best job for him: he wound up being trained in electronics. Serving in Japan during the occupation, and then during the Korean War, he found he enjoyed the prestige of being an electronics technician, the mathematics involved in it, and working with the relatively new technologies of radar and sonar; after his military service, he pursued a career in engineering.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Samuel T. Harmon Collection

Names

  • Veterans History Project
  • Library of Congress
  • Harmon, Samuel T.
  • Polutta, Melanie Kae

Home State

  • Washington (D.C.)

Headings

  • -  Harmon, Samuel T.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Navy.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Location of Service: Treasure Island, California; Yokosuka, Japan; Norfolk, Virginia; Great Lakes, Illinois; Chicago, Illinois; Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: Chief Electronics Technician
    • Dates of Service: 1944-1952
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served in the Civil Air Patrol before being drafted.
  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Navy
    • Location of Service: Japan
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: MiniDV [3 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 2010-11-08)
  • Video: DVD [2 items] -- Reference copy (collected 2010-11-08; 2010-11-08)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/74515

Cite as

  • Samuel T. Harmon Collection (AFC/2001/001/74515), 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:

Veterans History Project, Library Of Congress, Samuel T Harmon, and Melanie Kae Polutta. Samuel T. Harmon Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.74515/.

APA citation style:

Veterans History Project, Library Of Congress, Harmon, S. T. & Polutta, M. K. (1944) Samuel T. Harmon Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.74515/.

MLA citation style:

Veterans History Project, et al. Samuel T. Harmon Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.74515/>.