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Patty Thomas dancing, 1944.

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Location of Service: South Pacific; Europe; Alaska
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/8272

View full service history

"He did something wonderful for those kids; he made them laugh and made them forget what was going to happen."

If you were going to entertain the troops, you could do a lot worse than being part of Bob Hope's company that toured the South Pacific from 1944 to 1945 for the USO. Patty Thomas, a young dancer, joined Bob's troupe-including singer Frances Langford and comedian Jerry Colonna-for an island-hopping tour that included over 150 shows, one forced landing on a sandbar, a couple cases of jungle rot, and the adoration of thousands of GIs starved for a look at a pretty girl showing off her dancer's legs.

Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • Patty Thomas Collection

Names

  • Gevinson, Alan
  • Veterans History Project
  • Library of Congress
  • Thomas, Patty

Home State

  • Florida

Headings

  • -  Thomas, Patty
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United Service Organizations (USO) -- Personal Narratives

Repository

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

Gender

  • Female

Status

  • civilian

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Location of Service: South Pacific; Europe; Alaska
    • Dates of Service: 1944-1945
    • Military Status: civilian
    • Service History Note: Thomas danced with Bob Hope.

Materials

  • Video: Betacam SP [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-05-21)
  • Video: Digital Betacam [1 item] -- Digitized Copy (collected 2003-05-21)
  • Photograph: Digital print [19 items] -- Photograph (collected 1944-1945)
  • Video: DVD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2003-05-21; 2012-08-20)
  • Audio: DAT [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-05-21)
  • Video: VHS [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-05-21)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/8272

Cite as

  • Patty Thomas Collection (AFC/2001/001/8272), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • image
  • video

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Wars & Conflicts

Location of Service

Highest Rank

Discharge Status

Gender

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:

Gevinson, Alan, Veterans History Project, Library Of Congress, and Patty Thomas. Patty Thomas Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08272/.

APA citation style:

Gevinson, A., Veterans History Project, Library Of Congress & Thomas, P. (1944) Patty Thomas Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08272/.

MLA citation style:

Gevinson, Alan, et al. Patty Thomas Collection. 1944. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.08272/>.