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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army
  • Unit of Service: 142rd Anti-aircraft Artillery (AAA) Gun Battalion
  • Location of Service: Camp Wolters, Texas; European Theater
  • Highest Rank: Captain
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/7607

View full service history

"'The next guys or tanks you see will be Germans. We dropped a daisy chain of mines \\nacross the road. You hold them. We will be back with reinforcements.' Not exactly words \\nto warm the cockles of our hearts. It was not a happy time." (Memoir, page 4)

Leon Kent's experiences in World War II Europe were marked by luck. His artillery unit arrived on the continent in time for the liberation of Paris, and during the celebration he met his future wife, a Frenchwoman. Several months later, his artillery battery was in Belgium, and they were assigned to move out just before a German offensive nearly wiped out an adjoining company. That was the opening of the Battle of the Bulge, and Kent's memoir of activities in the battle's early days detail how what he described as a lucky shot at an advancing German tank severely hampered the advance of an enemy column; that delaying action bought the Allies precious time to turn the tide of the fighting.

Leon E. Kent Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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Leon E. Kent Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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[ Memoirs, "Battery C of the 143rd AAA Gun Battalion in the Battle of the Bulge" ]

About this Item

Title

  • Leon E. Kent Collection

Names

  • Legacies: Stories from the Second World War
  • Kent, Leon E.
  • Swope, Thomas A.

Home State

  • Ohio

Headings

  • -  Kent, Leon E.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army.

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: 142rd Anti-aircraft Artillery (AAA) Gun Battalion
    • Location of Service: Camp Wolters, Texas; European Theater
    • Highest Rank: Captain
    • Dates of Service: 1946
    • Entrance into Service: Drafted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Memoirs [1 item] -- (collected 1995-09)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [3 items] -- (collected unknown)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-07-20)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2006-06-08; 2006-06-08)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2006-06-08)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2006-03-20; 2006-03-20)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/7607

Cite as

  • Leon E. Kent Collection (AFC/2001/001/7607), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Wars & Conflicts

Service Branch

Location of Service

Service Unit

Highest Rank

Service Entrance

Discharge Status

Gender

Race

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:

Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, Leon E Kent, and Thomas A Swope. Leon E. Kent Collection. 1946. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.07607/.

APA citation style:

Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, Kent, L. E. & Swope, T. A. (1946) Leon E. Kent Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.07607/.

MLA citation style:

Legacies: Stories From The Second World War, Leon E Kent, and Thomas A Swope. Leon E. Kent Collection. 1946. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.07607/>.