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George Mishtowt [detail from video]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 50th Field Hospital; 82nd Airborne Division
  • Location of Service: European Theater
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/76162

View full service history

"We had opened the belly of a soldier within forty minutes of landing." (Video interview, 37:28)

The son of Russian immigrants, Captain George Mishtowt joined the Army ROTC in the late 1930s, as an undergraduate at Georgetown University. Following his medical training at Georgetown, he shipped out to England in 1944, where he served with the 82nd Airborne Division, a distinguished unit of paratroopers whose members had already seen intense action in North Africa, Sicily, and Normandy. The young doctor and newly-minted soldier caught up quickly: he flew into Holland aboard a glider under intense fire. After landing in a potato patch, he constructed a makeshift operating table using two trunks and a litter, and set forth operating on the wounded. After treating casualties during the Battle of the Bulge, he returned home to embark on a career in medicine with the State Department, becoming the first physician hired by the Foreign Service to serve at an embassy abroad.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • George Illarion Mishtowt Collection

Names

  • Witness to History, Georgetown University
  • Alprin, Anneliesa Clump
  • Mishtowt, George Illarion

Home State

  • Washington (D.C.)

Headings

  • -  Mishtowt, George Illarion
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Form

  • DVD

Extent

  • 1 item

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
    • Unit of Service: 50th Field Hospital; 82nd Airborne Division
    • Location of Service: European Theater
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as the commanding officer of the 50th Field Hospital.

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2009-07-30)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/76162

Cite as

  • George Illarion Mishtowt Collection (AFC/2001/001/76162), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Battles & Campaigns

Service Unit

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

Home State

Interviewee

Interviewer

Organization/Affiliation

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:

Witness To History, Georgetown University, Anneliesa Clump Alprin, and George Illarion Mishtowt. George Illarion Mishtowt Collection. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.76162/.

APA citation style:

Witness To History, G. U., Alprin, A. C. & Mishtowt, G. I. George Illarion Mishtowt Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.76162/.

MLA citation style:

Witness To History, Georgetown University, Anneliesa Clump Alprin, and George Illarion Mishtowt. George Illarion Mishtowt Collection. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.76162/>.