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Jerry Ross at time of interview

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: Cold War
  • Branch of Service: Air Force
  • Unit of Service: 6510th Flight Test Division
  • Location of Service: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Edwards Air Force Base, California; Texas
  • Highest Rank: Colonel
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/92369

View full service history

"Being assigned to do spacewalking stuff is, I think, almost any astronaut's dream." (Video interview, 18:43)

In his early days with the Air Force, Jerry Lynn Ross was selected for the Air Force Test Pilot School. While he loved working with B-1 bombers, he decided to give it up for a chance to soar to even greater heights as part of the NASA shuttle program. Detailed to NASA by the Air Force in 1980, he worked in mission control and went on nine spacewalks. In his oral history interview, he discusses the 32 years he spent working in NASA, including how the agency changed at the end of the Cold War, and recalls his memories of the 2003 Columbia shuttle tragedy.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Jerry Lynn Ross Collection

Names

  • Smith, Anne J.
  • Braud-Jones, Alice
  • Ross, Jerry Lynn
  • Daughters of the American Revolution, Sam Houston Chapter

Home State

  • Texas

Headings

  • -  Ross, Jerry Lynn
  • -  Cold War -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Air Force.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • White

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • Cold War

    • Branch of Service: Air Force
    • Unit of Service: 6510th Flight Test Division
    • Location of Service: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Edwards Air Force Base, California; Texas
    • Highest Rank: Colonel
    • Dates of Service: 1972-2000
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2013-08-27; 2013-08-27)
  • Manuscript: Biographical information [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2012-01)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/92369

Cite as

  • Jerry Lynn Ross Collection (AFC/2001/001/92369), 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:

Smith, Anne J, Alice Braud-Jones, Jerry Lynn Ross, and Sam Houston Chapter Daughters Of The American Revolution. Jerry Lynn Ross Collection. 1972. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.92369/.

APA citation style:

Smith, A. J., Braud-Jones, A., Ross, J. L. & Daughters Of The American Revolution, S. H. C. (1972) Jerry Lynn Ross Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.92369/.

MLA citation style:

Smith, Anne J, et al. Jerry Lynn Ross Collection. 1972. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.92369/>.