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Harold Plunkett in the radio room of a B-17 [1942]

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
  • Unit of Service: 48th Squadron, 2nd Bomb Group, 12th Air Force
  • Location of Service: North Africa; European Theater
  • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/9497

View full service history

"They put me on raw oxygen and I soon started getting my color back. So I lived to fight another day." (Diary, July 5, 1943 entry)

In an interview and a diary of his combat experiences in 1943, Harold Plunkett describes the camaraderie, the boredom, and the fear involved with flying bombing missions over Africa and Europe during World War II. He enlisted on the day after Pearl Harbor and married exactly one year later, just before shipping out. As a radioman, his duties involved logging each bomb dropped and each enemy plane spotted-when he wasn't dodging shrapnel while sitting in the plane's ball turret. Plunkett almost died twice, once when his oxygen tank was shot away and he passed out. One of his plane's more unusual targets: Mt. Etna, in hopes the bombs might make the volcano erupt (it did--but only after the Allies had captured Sicily).

W. Harold Plunkett Collection
Interview / Recording

About this Item

Title

  • W. Harold Plunkett Collection

Names

  • Lugar, Richard
  • U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar
  • Ruhl, Lane A.
  • Plunkett, W. Harold

Home State

  • Indiana

Headings

  • -  Plunkett, W. Harold
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.

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 Air Forces/Corps
    • Unit of Service: 48th Squadron, 2nd Bomb Group, 12th Air Force
    • Location of Service: North Africa; European Theater
    • Highest Rank: Staff Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1945
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran

Materials

  • Manuscript: Diaries and journals [1 item] -- (collected 1943)
  • Photograph: Copy photographic print [1 item] -- (collected 2003)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2003-09-17)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/9497

Cite as

  • W. Harold Plunkett Collection (AFC/2001/001/9497), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • pdf

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

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:

Lugar, Richard, U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar, Lane A Ruhl, and W. Harold Plunkett. W. Harold Plunkett Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09497/.

APA citation style:

Lugar, R., U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar, Ruhl, L. A. & Plunkett, W. H. (1941) W. Harold Plunkett Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09497/.

MLA citation style:

Lugar, Richard, et al. W. Harold Plunkett Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.09497/>.