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Richard Simpson [2006]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Korean War, 1950-1953
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 196th Field Artillery Battalion, 8th Army
  • Location of Service: Korea
  • Highest Rank: Corporal
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/51032

View full service history

"The sergeant said to me, 'Welcome, you are the first replacement since the war ended.'" (Video Interview, 7:12)

Though he did not arrive in Korea until shortly after the July 1953 truce was signed, Richard Simpson does offer a vivid account of those first two years of uneasy peace. In his first days in country, he was introduced to 100 soldiers, all of them gone within two months. He points out that had the hostilities erupted again, there were few men with real combat experience left to wage the war. Living and working near the DMZ, he found the tension palpable. Booby traps and land mines abounded, random shots were fired. He saw much destruction and stark evidence of starvation. Opposed to the war while he was a college student, he changed his mind once he saw how much worse conditions might have been under North Korean rule.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Richard Alvin Simpson Collection

Names

  • Missouri State University
  • Kohut, Jessica M.
  • Simpson, Richard Alvin
  • Johnson, Julie A.
  • Jason Lowry
  • Christina Buchholz

Home State

  • Missouri

Headings

  • -  Simpson, Richard Alvin
  • -  Korean War, 1950-1953 -- 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

  • Korean War, 1950-1953

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: 196th Field Artillery Battalion, 8th Army
    • Location of Service: Korea
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1953-1955
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2006-11-22; 2006-12-04)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/51032

Cite as

  • Richard Alvin Simpson Collection (AFC/2001/001/51032), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

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:

Missouri State University, Jessica M Kohut, Richard Alvin Simpson, Julie A Johnson, Jason Lowry, and Christina Buchholz. Richard Alvin Simpson Collection. 1953. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.51032/.

APA citation style:

Missouri State University, Kohut, J. M., Simpson, R. A., Johnson, J. A., Jason Lowry & Christina Buchholz. (1953) Richard Alvin Simpson Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.51032/.

MLA citation style:

Missouri State University, et al. Richard Alvin Simpson Collection. 1953. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.51032/>.