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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
  • Location of Service: Johnston Island; Hawaii; Iwo Jima, [UF Nako Iwo, Sulpher Island]; Camp Pendleton, San Diego, California
  • Highest Rank: Corporal
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/54098

View full service history

"It was not like you see in the movies. Iwo Jima was inch by inch." (Oral history transcript)

Corporal Melford K. Jarstad's service in the Marine Corps during World War II was divided into two radically different phases. Starting in September 1942, he spent 16 months on Johnston Island, an atoll in the Pacific so remote he was startled to hear the voices of women and children when he returned to the States. Protecting the island from Japanese invasion was not only lonely, but mind-numbingly boring. After further training in Hawaii and California, he was in the Pacific Theater once again--but this time, to take part in the invasion of Iwo Jima. His account of that battle conveys the grueling, frustratingly slow crawl of the US forces across the island, and the casualties that victory cost them. As he relates, "When we approached Iwo for the landings we were packed aboard like sardines; when we left, we had all the room in the world." Following the end of the war, he served briefly in Sasebo, Japan, during the occupation.

About this Item

Title

  • Melford K. Jarstad Collection

Names

  • Osborn, Oakley E.
  • Jarstad, Melford K.

Home State

  • Washington (State)

Headings

  • -  Jarstad, Melford K.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Marine Corps.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Marine Corps
    • Location of Service: Johnston Island; Hawaii; Iwo Jima, [UF Nako Iwo, Sulpher Island]; Camp Pendleton, San Diego, California
    • Highest Rank: Corporal
    • Dates of Service: 1942-1945
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2008-03-08-2005-03-09)
  • Computer File: CD [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2005-03-08-2005-03-09; 2006-01-05)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/54098

Cite as

  • Melford K. Jarstad Collection (AFC/2001/001/54098), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text

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:

Osborn, Oakley E, and Melford K Jarstad. Melford K. Jarstad Collection. [1942] Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.54098/.

APA citation style:

Osborn, O. E. & Jarstad, M. K. (1942) Melford K. Jarstad Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.54098/.

MLA citation style:

Osborn, Oakley E, and Melford K Jarstad. Melford K. Jarstad Collection. [1942] Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.54098/>.