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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division
  • Location of Service: Camp Atterbury, Indiana; Belgium; Germany; Poland; Russia; Turkey; Italy
  • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/98968

View full service history

"I'm fighting for our country, still." (Audio interview, 1:05:34)

Heading to Europe with the 422nd Infantry Regiment in October 1944, Second Lieutenant Rupert Start was quickly thrust into the thick of the action in the Ardennes Forest. After a couple of near misses, his luck ran out when he was captured by the Germans just a few months later. Throughout the four months he spent as a prisoner of war-including forced marches and an eight-day transfer by boxcar, much of it spent without food or water-his dedication never wavered, and he came back home to Ohio with a pledge to make every moment count. In the early 2000s, when he was in his mid-80s, he began speaking out against the injustices of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. As he relates in his oral history interview, his efforts inspired many people in the local community.

Rupert Starr Collection
Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Rupert Starr Collection

Names

  • Sacks, Howard
  • Kenyon College
  • Starr, Rupert

Home State

  • Ohio

Headings

  • -  Starr, Rupert
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.
  • -  Prisoner of War -- United States

Form

  • CD

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: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 422nd Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division
    • Location of Service: Camp Atterbury, Indiana; Belgium; Germany; Poland; Russia; Turkey; Italy
    • Highest Rank: Second Lieutenant
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1946
    • Prisoner of War: Yes
    • Entrance into Service: Commissioned
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: The veteran served as a liaison officer.

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2015-04-10; 2015)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/98968

Cite as

  • Rupert Starr Collection (AFC/2001/001/98968), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio

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:

Sacks, Howard, Kenyon College, and Rupert Starr. Rupert Starr Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.98968/.

APA citation style:

Sacks, H., Kenyon College & Starr, R. (1943) Rupert Starr Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.98968/.

MLA citation style:

Sacks, Howard, Kenyon College, and Rupert Starr. Rupert Starr Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.98968/>.