Top of page

Louis Quayle in uniform [ca. 1918]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1914-1918
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: Quartermaster Corps
  • Location of Service: California
  • Highest Rank: Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/69370

View full service history

"I guess the only thing to do is make the best of it." (Letter to Mom and Pop, 8/28/1918)

In the last line of his first letter written to his parents from training, Sergeant Louis Quayle offered his general assessment of military life: "This is not like home." Though stationed just up the coast from his native San Diego, in Arcadia, CA, life in the Army came as a shock to Quayle--and unfortunately things did not improve from there. As his correspondence makes clear, Quayle's experience as a draftee into the Quartermaster Corps was not a positive one. He wrote of the Army's lack of preparedness and chronic supply shortages, and hoped that he might not pass the required physical and then released from service. To his chagrin, he was found to be able-bodied, and spent much of the duration yearning for leave and for home.

[ Photo Album ]

More Resources

[ Check for fifteen dollars for overpayment of allotment for February 1919 ]
[ Letter from the U.S. Veterans Bureau [1/1/1925] ]
[ Honorable Discharge certificate ]
[ Certificate appointing Louis H. Quayle to Sergeant in the Quartermaster Corp [11/1/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [8/20/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [8/22/1917] ]

Show more resources (36)

[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [8/24/1917] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [8/28/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop" from Louis Quayle [8/28/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop" from Louis Quayle [8/30/1917] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [9/2/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/4/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/6/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/11/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/13/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/17/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/19/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/21/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/24/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/26/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/27/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [9/30/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [10/1/1917] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [10/3/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [10/7/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [10/8/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [10/4/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [10/13/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [10/15/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [10/16/1917] ]
[ Dear "Pop and Mom" from Louis Quayle [10/26/1917] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [7/31/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom" from Louis Quayle [10/9/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [10/13/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [10/16/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [10/20/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [10/27/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [10/30/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [11/3/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [11/7/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [12/11/1918] ]
[ Dear "Mom and Pop" from Louis Quayle [12/15/1918] ]

About this Item

Title

  • Louis Hildreth Quayle Collection

Names

  • Quayle, Betty J.
  • Quayle, Louis Hildreth

Home State

  • California

Headings

  • -  Quayle, Louis Hildreth
  • -  World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

Repository

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

Gender

  • Male

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1914-1918

    • Branch of Service: Army
    • Unit of Service: Quartermaster Corps
    • Location of Service: California
    • Highest Rank: Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1917-1918
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Correspondence [38 items] -- Handwritten document (collected 1917-08-1918-12)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [4 items] -- Mixed (handwritten and typewritten documents) (collected unknown)
  • Photograph: Original photographic print [3 items] -- Photograph (collected 1918)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/69370

Cite as

  • Louis Hildreth Quayle Collection (AFC/2001/001/69370), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Service Unit

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Home State

Interviewee

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:

Quayle, Betty J, and Louis Hildreth Quayle. Louis Hildreth Quayle Collection. 1917. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.69370/.

APA citation style:

Quayle, B. J. & Quayle, L. H. (1917) Louis Hildreth Quayle Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.69370/.

MLA citation style:

Quayle, Betty J, and Louis Hildreth Quayle. Louis Hildreth Quayle Collection. 1917. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.69370/>.